The Ankle Medical Kit You Don’t Even Know You’re Carrying

Have you heard about the ankle medical kit and wondered what on earth you could carry around the ankle that would even be helpful in an actual emergency?

Or perhaps thought, why bother with an individual first aid kit (IFAK) at all? 

As a long-time ER nurse, I know, firsthand, that people who know basic bleeding control techniques save lives. 

And I’m not just talking about medically trained people.  No, these concepts are too simple and way too time-sensitive to leave just to the rescue crews.

I’m going to show you just how easy it is to get in the game… and be that life-saving link between the critically injured, and the crucial help they need.

All while you’re out and about.

This post is all about the ankle medical kit that can save your life.

Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK)

The individual first aid kit has come a long way. It has finally become widely recognized that regular people (those un-medically trained, civilians, etc..) need access to more than just band-aids in their first aid kits.

This is probably due to the amped-up training that’s now being offered to the general public. All thanks to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) – Let me explain.

The DHS is the division of the government responsible for our nation’s public safety, including emergency response… And they know that a person can die within 3 minutes of a traumatic injury.

So, in response to continued mass casualty acts of violence where emergency resources get spread too thin, the DHS spearheaded a national awareness campaign back in 2015, known as Stop-the-Bleed.  

Stop-the-Bleed is a call to action for us bystanders, the first able-bodied people on the scene of an incident, to spring into action and help one another. 

Imagine that… Empowering ourselves to not be sitting ducks, waiting around for the rescue squad.

Of course, the emergence of this next-level training resulted in a commensurate increase in the demand for IFAK kits.

Ankle Medical Kit

An ankle medical kit is nothing more than an individual first aid kit that can be secured, hands-free, around the ankle. It’s also known as an ankle IFAK. Or, simply, an ankle trauma kit (ATK). 

These are stocked with the bare bones essentials to stop active bleeding that you can see.

You can assemble your kit with individually purchased supplies or buy a pre-made kit. We have the ankle trauma kits with the Combat Gauze from North American Rescue (NAR):

(Screenshot image of NAR IFAK contents)

I have these in the car emergency kits for my entire family. While these live in our car kits, they’re meant to be taken with us for biking, hiking, seeking safety, or otherwise leaving our vehicles.

If you haven’t read my post on what goes in a properly stocked first aid kit, click here. In the meantime, below is a pic of how my ankle medical kit is kept in the middle outside pocket of a more complete trauma bag:

(Images: Bleeding control supplies in easy to see & reach outside pockets – click here to shop for a bag with outside pockets too!)

Tactical First Aid Kit With Tourniquet

We by no means walk around with ankle trauma kits adhered to us every time we leave the house. But any large gathering or public event is a definite reason to come prepared for anything. 

In this case, one of my nurse besties, my son, and his girlfriend headed off before dawn to watch over 70 hot air balloons ascend into the sky at sunrise at The Great Reno Balloon Race.

It was absolutely as amazing as it sounds.

(Images: Having too much fun trying to get the right pic of our IFAK trauma kits!)

As a Stop-the-Bleed instructor, I trained my boy (and his girlfriend) in hemorrhage control the day he got his driver’s license.

So, there we all were… ready to jump in and save lives if that’s the morning called for:

(Images: Teenage son and his girlfriend armed with an ankle trauma kit)

If you do not know how to control an active bleed and would like to learn more, click here to find a course near you!

IFAK Pouch

We only had 3 ankle medical kits but also brought along an individual first aid kit in a waterproof, vacuum-sealed pouch: 

(Image: This CARE kit is no longer available, but to find a North American Rescue Bleeding Control Kit, Click Here)

Now that we’ve taken a look at various IFAK kits, let’s get a better look at what comes inside.

As we get into the different bleeding control products, let’s first get on the same page when it comes to the number-one and oh-so-simple principle of all bleeding control: PRESSURE STOPS BLEEDING.

This can be from applying direct pressure, (firmly pushing down on the wound with your fingers or hand), achieving internal pressure (that comes from packing deep wounds so tight, it provides pressure from the inside), or circumferential pressure, such as what you get from a tourniquet.

If you have extreme (praying to the heavens) bleeding that’s coming from a deep or gaping wound, you can also apply pressure with your fist, knee, or heel of the hands above the wound over the pulse. If you don’t know about pressure points, click here for a cool video tutorial. 

IKAK Contents

• QuikClot Combat Gauze. This packing gauze has a substance woven into the gauze that speeds up blood clotting. These are also called hemostatic dressings, and they don’t have to be brand-specific to work. Another FYI… packing gauze has a blue stripe on it so it can be seen on an x-ray.
• Emergency Trauma Dressing. These are elastic wraps that have a sterile dressing on the inside. If you don’t have these and need to secure a dressing, an ACE wrap works in a pinch.
• A commercial TOURNIQUET. These come in various models, but the premise is the same… to provide that circumferential pressure around a wound that is gushing or squirting blood. If you purchase one of these, take a class and know what you’re doing so you don’t make things worse. If you did a class, it’s still crucial you take it out of the packaging and practice with yours. Mine is a Combat Application Tourniquet or CAT:

1. Tourniquets go around the arms or legs… not the abdomen, chest, neck, or other areas of concern… “Extremities” only, and high and tight is best for our non-medical good samaritans out there.
2. Pull out all the slack, or it won’t tighten. Mine secures with velcro, but the buckle-closure tourniquets do not. Know yours!
3. Confirm you have no slack left before attempting to tighten it with the “windlass rod”. 
4. Turn the windlass either right or left (it doesn’t matter) to tighten the tourniquet. Keep going until the bleeding stops or you can’t turn it anymore.
5. Seat the rod in the windlass clip. Again, these secure differently depending on your model. Figure this out ahead of time.
6. Write down the time you stopped the bleed on the retention strap that secures the rod in place. BAM.

Importance Of First Aid

Taking a Stop-the-Bleed class, or packing around individual trauma kits may seem like a lot of extra work. Especially if you’ve gotten along pretty well up until now.

But you never know when a situation will come up out of the blue and require some basic know-how.

Don’t have a bunch of bleeding control supplies at the ready? As long as you know the basic premise of bleeding control, you can improvise. It’s not ideal, but it’s definitely doable.  

(Images: A leisurely day at the lake turns into a fight to save a life!) 

Pictured above is Goldilocks. She was enjoying the day at a lake when she got caught up on something and ended up with a gaping wound that was pulsating blood… Meaning she severed an artery. And could have bled to death within minutes.

Luckily her mom (Blondie, pictured throughout the post) knows that pressure is what stops bleeding. And good thing, because a tourniquet was nowhere in sight.

I imagine that almost-3-hour drive to the emergency vet looked something like this in the back of the car:

(Image: Applying circumferential pressure around my dog’s leg)

(Images: Goldilocks is back to living her best life…birthday parties and play dates!)

Conclusion

As you can see, it’s pretty effortless to adventure out prepared for anything.

Whether you get a commercially made ankle medical kit or assemble your own kit with supplies catered to your needs (and comfort level), everyone should know how to perform this basic skill.

This post was all about the ankle medical kit you don’t even know you’re carrying.