AAR: Magpul Dynamics Shooter Aid 2 (Portland, OR) Oct 2011

Dealers/ Manufacturers/ Regional/ Info Magpul CORE
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Magpul Dynamics / Dynamic Carbine 2
October 15-17th / Douglas Ridge Rifle Club (Portland, OR)

I’m going to preface this AAR by admitting truth in the statement of “You don’t know what you don’t know.” For the vast majority of us who take training regularly, and very seriously, that when push comes to shove we admit we don’t have the knowledge to help plug the holes we’re training to make.

Back at SHOT SHOW ’10 I had the chance to meet Kerry Davis, and we hit it off talking about what his area of expertise was, and how it counter-pointed the weapons manipulation side of the Magpul Dynamics training. About a year’s worth of back and forth we decided to finally get a Shooters Aid 2 course schedule for here in Portland, Oregon. From the start this was a tough class to fill. I have to think this is more a reflection on what shooters’ think is most useful to them, and how wrong they are in their own little world. I’ll admit it; medical training isn’t something I initially wanted to do. But originally handgun training wasn’t something I wanted to spend my time doing either. However I know understand it as a critical bridge between being a good human being, and a good shooter. For many of us the most we’ll ever face is a car crash, or an accident at the range. But in that infinitesimally small fraction of our lives where we’re faced with being able to save a life do we panic, or do we have the information needed to make a difference, and save a life, especially our own.

Day 1

Kerry Davis would be our instructor for the first 2 days, then releasing primary control to Steve Fisher for the live fire component on day 3. Kerry made it abundantly clear this wouldn’t be ‘Death by Powerpoint.’ And I can confirm that wasn’t the case, with Kerry doing a fantastic job of distilling the information down to those of us with little to no pre-existing medical knowledge. The class was about a 50/50 split between civilians, and LEOs ranging from law enforcement to border protection.

From my background I had taken a BASIC first responder course in high school, then again in college, and coming from an art background I had human anatomy drilled into my study schedule for a whole year straight, so I at least knew that the knee bone was connected to the something something something or other…

This was a shotgun blast of information, and I’d say 99 percent of it stuck. That’s a testament to Kerry being an engaging speaker, and this being a dialogue with the students rather than just a lecture. This was supplemented with a manual so that students could take the contents of the first two days home to re-read after the class. The essential structure of the class broke down to diagnostics, and then application. Kerry broke down topics into easy to understand categories, how to identify the problem, and how we could do everything in our power to solve that problem.

This came down to the HABC’s. This involved Hemorage, Airway, Breathing, and Circulation. Throughout this process Kerry used teaching aids of videos, many of which served to illustrate how quickly things go bad, and how little time you have to make a difference. These were not shown for the desire to gross anyone out, they were there to remind you that time is life.

It should also be noted that Kerry applies his southern humor to most of the lectures, which included such gems of “Nervous as a cat crapping razor blades.” This approachability is something that in my experience has benefited all good instructors. We’re dealing with some fairly nasty stuff, and to compartmentalize that information, and mindset requires a fairly dark sense of humor. It’s also required to engage students into taking in all the information presented per day.

The biggest part of this class was the demystification of the tools of the trade, ranging from hemostatic agents, nasal airways, and tourniquets. By understanding how to diagnose a problem, and then decide what solution was appropriate we knew what we did or rather did NOT need in our kits. I’d say this was a major benefit to myself as a shooter, as I was faced with a rather large bout of paralysis by analysis just in picking out an IFAK to use as the basis for this class. By the end of the class I was taking away parts, or replacing parts entirely.

A huge component of this class was also the realization this wouldn’t be wall-to-wall gunshot treatment. In fact a large portion was the discussion of broken bones, bites, cuts, burns, heat stroke, and hypothermia. These were injuries that we all experience in our lifetime, and for many of us shootings would occupy the tiniest fraction of possibility in our lifetimes.

Once again food was provided to students, and I think we must have lucked out because it was mostly chunks of meat or lasagna throughout the class, which I guess WAS a tad morbid in retrospect. Just like our previous classes this provided a way to let people decompress, sit back, and talk with Kerry, and each other.

I should note that one of the most important videos Kerry showed was one found by Steve Fisher, which involved a man at a Pakistani check-point being shot in the leg at point blank with a 7.62 round. The man attempts to remain standing before crumpling over, passing out, and dying within only a minute. This wasn’t shown for shock value, this was shown to illustrate how quickly we had to apply a TQ or our chances dropped off exponentially. Audible gasps were heard in class, and this really drove home how deadly serious the business at hand was going to be.

By the end of that day we all left the range a little fried. It was a lot of information to process. It should also be noted that while making a dinner run with Kerry and Steve, we decided to grab some chunks of meat for a few ballistic demos required for the following day. After a few hours of drinks back at the hotel I headed home, noticing that it was odd my window was rolled down, why would I roll it down when it was raining that evening. Oh wait, that’s why, broken glass! Thus I ended TD1 with someone breaking into my car and making off with about 3500 dollars in Canon lenses. Not fun.

Day 2

After making an early morning trip to vacuum out broken glass from my car, all rallied up back at the clubhouse. Day 2 would finish up much of the lectures, and take us from theory into hands on demonstrations. This included applying TQs, splints, and even proper use of gloves.

As mentioned earlier we had procured 4 chunks of meat. And during our lunch break Kerry and I headed down to one of the bays. We used a standard M193 55gr 5.56 round at about 1 yd, a 230gr Federal HST .45acp, a .40 frangible round, and then a big nasty 12ga Federal Flight Control round. Each would serve as a visual example of the wound cavities produced by such rounds, but would allow for hands-on experience with how to pack a wound, and frankly showing how much gauss could be required. For the 5.56 round it required almost 12+ feet of gauss to pack properly.

We practiced tourniquet application on ourselves, and our classmates, using the most popular TQs such as the CATs, SOF-Ts, and SWAT-T. We also practiced the installation of nasal airways, and splints. Kerry also showed just how far QUICKCLOT products have improved by showing us the older compound on one of the pieces of meat. It was not done to disparage the old version, as I’d rather be burned then bleed to death, but rather the importance of having the latest version in our kits. After this Kerry went around the room and we did a round robin discussion of our biggest take-aways as students. As I said before you don’t know what you don’t know. This was the most echoed statement by all the students. For those who carry a gun for a living this added one more tool of survival for them on a daily basis, for those of us who practice outdoor activities this gave us a baseline for what we should have with us, and how to respond. For everyone this was a starting off point in our toolkit to think through a problem rather then get vapor-locked and being unable to help ourselves.

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Day 3

The first two days had been rainy, but we were inside and warm, so who cared. Well, Day 3 was quite wet at first. But it’s the Pacific Northwest, and to expect good weather would be foolish. I’d say about 2/3rds of the students had been to one of our Magpul Dynamics shooting packages, or had taken one at another location. One of the LEOs had made the drive all the way up from California from the same Handgun 2 class I was at a few days earlier.

Generally it doesn’t rain hard here, it just rains constantly. But just like my feelings on the Handgun course we don’t get to pick when and where we get into a life threatening situation, so we can’t expect it to be beautiful when we’re training either. As I said earlier, this was a medical class with a shooting component; as such it was not a shooting class. This required a tune-up for some students. So after our initial safety and range rules pre-brief we carried targets out, and began a basic benchmark for handguns. We began with dot drills, then some basic accuracy at distance. Given that most of us had gone through classes before with Steve, some as recent as the week before (San Jose), or 3 months prior for the Carbine 1 and Handgun 2 class here in Portland, this meant we were in decent enough shape going forward.

Since much of this class would require one-handed manipulation we worked one handed shooting, reloads, and malfunctions. Once comfortable with this we began fighting to cover with a handgun, applying our TQs, and returning fire. We then introduced our buddies, which involved one of the pair simulating taking a round. The partner would neutralize the threat, buddy drag us around to cover, apply our TQ, and re-engage the threat. We finished up the handgun practice with shooting supine, then applying TQ’s to our legs.

At this point I should point out that neither my partner nor I are spider monkeys, and as such this was a huge wakeup call to how hard it can be to move another human being when they’re laying their like a dead weight. We both were also running setups with no drag handle. Bryan, my partner for the drills, was wearing a Blackhawk vest, and myself wearing a Blue Force Gear LMAC with 10lbs of LVL 4 plates. I also quickly learned in soft ground that the grip of my 1911 acted like a giant tiller in the dirt, as I left a trough right through the dirt for about 15 feet. Awesome.

After lunch we grabbed our Carbines, and preceded to ensure we all had zeroes on them. As usual the question is raised, “Who here has a 100 percent solid zero on their carbine and doesn’t need to verify?” Hands go up. “Okay who would stake their life on it.” About half the hands go down. Zeroing is always the slowdown in class, as usually people either don’t have ‘em, or just have trouble doing so.

With that taken care of we essentially replicated the same drills using our carbines and handguns, transitioning when necessary. We also worked a lot of our carbine manipulation one-handed, something that was a gear shakedown for many. Folks with heavy guns instantly realized how tough it became to sling your rifle, apply a TQ with one arm, and then get the gun back in the fight with only one good arm.

Little tricks we picked up were bracing the rifle off hard-points such as sling mounts, lights, and even using the cover to brace the rifle between it and our plates. This locked the gun in one spot, and allowed us to draw a magazine, power stroke the charging handle, and re-engage the threat. We then regrouped with our buddies, and started working buddy drags, which required a huge amount of situational awareness to accomplish. Specifically engaging the threat, assessing the situation, slinging the rifle in a way we didn’t sweep ourselves, or our downed partner. Then dragging them to cover while keeping control of our rifle, applying the TQ, and re-engaging the threat.

All of these drills were timed, with an emphasis on getting our TQs applied within 15-20 seconds.

Our final drill of the day was just an exercise in Steve being evil. This consisted of a controlled relay race, with all of us starting at about 75yds. Our partners would run up to the barricades, fire 5 shots into the target, wait for permission to move, then as a group haul ass back, at which point we’d run up to the barricades, fire, then be given permission to run back as well. Rinse and repeat till all 30 shots were fired out of our magazines. At the end we’d be counting up all the shots in the 8” circle to see who won.

“Steve, what purpose does this serve, and what do we win?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to run your asses into the ground.”

We finished up the day with Kerry and Steve thanking everyone for their eagerness for the material, stressing the importance of what we’d learned, and finally certificates and brass call.

Conclusions

Just like my initial experience with handgun training this was a class I needed, but didn’t know I wanted. As such I’ve come away with an appreciation for those little tips and tricks that could help me save family, fellow shooters, and myself. This isn’t an ego driven ability, it’s not a case of “I can shoot faster and more accurately than you.” It’s a quest to be the guy who can have the fundamentals of field trauma, to be able to identify a problem, look into your silo of solutions, and have the thought processes to not panic under pressure.

At its core we all want to help our fellow man, to not sit by and feel helpless. I feel like my fellow students and I gained a confidence to be an asset, but also gained the continued desire to get even more medical training. Just like firearms training, it never stops; you can always continue that education. I want to sincerely thank Kerry Davis for his time and passion, to Steve Fisher for his ability to be the ‘bad cop’ and push us, and to all the students for their sense of humor and desire to become better-rounded shooters…and citizens.

As an aside, this marks Magpul Dynamics fourth medical class, as such it sincerely saddens me that it’s such a hard slog to get people interested in saving lives, rather than just learning to take ‘em. I truly feel that this is the missing link in education for most shooters, and I hope medical classes gain in popularity, because as mentioned, so little of our lives is spent pulling a trigger in anger (for civilians, and LEOs), but so much of life is so fragile, and being there to help is a critical responsibility, not just as citizens, but as human beings.

More Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/isaac_marchionna/sets/72157627818322674/

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Thanks for the AAR:D

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Thanks for the AAR. Most folks who shoot or those who live near other human beings could benefit from a class like this…

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Doc, we’re working on bringing Kerry out to our AO via SBRPSTC and having it be CA POST-approved, as well.

Coming soon to a PD near you!

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I cant agree more with knowing how to stop the blood, mine or others,very good overview.

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I have been meaning to write something about this class for nearly two months now, but have not done so simply because I did not think I would be able to do it justice.

This three-day course was the culmination of a 12-day shooting package I put myself through, beginning with Handgun 1 and Handgun 2/Shotgun in San Jose, CA at the end of September. I registered for those courses when they were announced last November, but did not even see this course until Isaac posted about this course’s availability. I can’t tell you how pleased I am for enrolling in this course.

I have been a police officer for 7 and a half years, serving for Sacramento PD (briefly), and currently Stockton (CA) PD. Shooting, in regards to both marksmanship and combat, is very important in my agency (as it should be for all, but we know it isn’t for many). I have carried a trauma kit in my gear bag for years, but have never been trained in its use. In fact, my Department has even gone so far as to issue trauma kits to our sworn personnel, but not one has ever been trained in the use of its contents (which are substandard simply because the kits are lacking several key pieces of equipment).

Prior to attending the class, I contacted one of the SWAT medics to talk about the essentials for a trauma kit. Now, when I say essentials, I mean simply that, the essentials. I don’t want all of the bells and whistles or frilly shit. I want the bare bone essentials, simply because my particular mission drives my gear selection, as it should for every single person. My mission, simply put, is to provide first line medical care to a downed officer during the short window of time that I have between my contact with them, and their delivery to paramedics. Be it in a downed officer scenario where a rescue is being performed, and aid is rendered from behind cover or while removing the officer from the hot area to paramedics (who stage away from the gunfight so as not to become casualties themselves); or rendering aid to myself or a partner while awaiting the arrival of paramedics, I only need what is absolutely necessary.

In talking with the medic, I was given several pieces of kit, which totaled to a net cost (since they were purchased in bulk, of course) of just over $10.00, or so. The items provided included two Asherman chest seals, a Nasopharyngeal airway, tape (for the chest seals), and two rolls of Kerlix gauze for a pressure dressing. The only piece of kit missing was a tourniquet.

I drove to Portland the day before class started and couldn’t wait. Isaac and crew host a fantastic course. Saturday morning came, and Steve and Kerry arrived to begin instruction, which was to include two days of classroom lecture, discussion, and hands on practical exercises (packing a wound with gauze, application of a tourniquet and pressure dressings, insertion of NPA’s, etc.), followed by a third and final day of live fire exercises with both handgun and rifle, while rescuing a downed partner and applying tourniquets to the extremities.

The classroom instruction was phenomenal. A lesson I learned long ago, and remind myself of frequently as an instructor, is that there are instructors, and there are teachers. Kerry is the latter, as he is incredibly adept at not only lecturing on the course material, but conveying an understanding of the “How’s?” and “Why’s” behind the techniques presented. On the third day, the live fire portion was brief, but entirely adequate. As was repeatedly stated by both Steve and Kerry, the purpose of this course is not to teach you how to shoot, but to provide a supplemental skill set, an additional dimension, to the shooter. As many know, it is one thing to shoot at a target. It is another to engage a target in a “combative” manner. It is yet another to engage a target, neutralize said target with extreme prejudice and efficiency, and then rapidly conduct a tactical reload, move to cover, and provide self aid (or better yet, do so and move a downed PARTNER to cover and render aid!). This shooting portion was NO show and ALL go, which is exactly as it should be. No frills, no bullshit, just the bare bones essentials.

By now, if you are still reading, I hope you realize this AAR is about the course, the reasoning as to why I chose to attend (which I hope will prompt you to seek similar training, as well), and the excellent TEACHERS who were there for us. Keeping this in mind, I am going to provide a personal touch to this AAR, which I hope will do nothing more than reinforce what I have already stated.

I have only been an officer for 7 and a half years. In that time, I have worked for two incredibly busy Departments, especially in my current position in Stockton, CA. I have worked patrol, which I absolutely love, and prefer, over other positions.

This course ended Monday, October 3. Tuesday, October 4 was my travel day, and I was back to work Wednesday, October 5, at 1700 hrs. I made it through that first night back without needing to use any of the skills taught by Kerry (NOTE: keep in mind that I have been trained in “First Aid”, which is mandated by the State of California and consists of a four hour block of instruction in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver every TWO years, but nothing more. Also, please remember that I am strictly a cop, not an EMT or paramedic, and as such am only really able to justify the use of any of these MOST BASIC skills on a downed officer in a time is life situation, and only until I can deliver them to the capable hands of the waiting paramedics).

Six hours into my second shift, I was the first officer on scene of what turned out to be a homicide. I broke open the passenger of the victim’s vehicle, which had crashed into a building, and removed him so I could conduct an evaluation. I felt no pulse at the carotid or radial arteries, the victim was not breathing, and was unresponsive. I cut victim’s clothing away and located a single gunshot wound underneath their left armpit, yet no exit wound. There was no external bleeding, so I presumed (and rightly so, unfortunately) that the victim was bleeding entirely into their body cavity. The only thing I could do was perform CPR.

There was nothing I could do. Medics arrived a short time later and continued CPR, but there was no saving the victim. After speaking with medical personnel, I learned that the victim would have only had a marginally better chance of survival if they would have fallen onto an operating room table after being shot.

Since that night, I have arrived at approximately ten or more shooting or stabbing scenes and conducted a brief medical evaluation. This is not out of the ordinary at all. In fact, I have done so for years, I just didn’t know exactly what to look for, what to do. Essentially, prior to the training provided by Kerry, I was doing “math work” with a calculator, without understanding the reasoning behind the equation. I was cheating, myself and my partners. I was lucky, because I got away with it.

I suppose I write this tonight because I feel as though I finally have the perspective for which I was seeking. I write this after going to yet another shooting (four shooting victims in three separate incidents in town on Thanksgiving; unbelievable) and conducting an evaluation. The victim was shot once to the right side of his torso, near his floating rib. There was nothing I could do, so I attempted to take a statement and then briefed medics when they arrived. The victim was transported to a nearby hospital and is currently undergoing surgery and is in stable condition. I spoke with the paramedics and asked if there was anything I could have done differently. I was told, “No, you did all you could have done, and it was a huge help to us.”

While at the hospital, one of my partners, who epitomizes what it is to be a REAL MAN, asked why I continually try to save people’s lives when it is the paramedic’s job to do so. My answer was short and simply put. Besides being the right thing to do (even though I can’t do anything, because it is the job of paramedics to do so), each time I conduct an evaluation, each time I examine an injury and analyze a victim’s body, each time I debrief with the involved paramedics, I am PRACTICING to save the life of a downed officer, whether it be me or someone else.

This course, obviously, is a sample size of one, for I have not attended any others. There were approximately 25 students in attendance, with a total of five of us who were in law enforcement. 80% of the class was comprised of civilians, and I commend them for attending, as it is a testament to their dedication to be responsible civilians.

As professionals, whether law enforcement, military, or armed civilian, those of us who take the responsibility to stand up and defend those who choose not to defend themselves, it is imperative that we develop the proper warrior mindset. We take training classes at incredible personal expense. We seek information from those who are recognized experts in their fields. We keep an open mind when it comes to learning new things. We keep our egos in check and realize that we are never the biggest, baddest, best shooters/tacticians in existence. We prepare for the fight, both physically and mentally, before the fight ever comes knocking on our door. We attempt to prevent any use of force at all times, and only use force as a last resort. These are the traits of a warrior, of a protector. These are the traits that separate us as warriors from those who choose to prey upon those we have sworn an oath to protect.

We find it difficult to train to our weaknesses. How many of you take the time to go to the range each week? If you do, that is great. How many of you take the time to identify the areas you want to work upon, write up a lesson plan, and then use that lesson plan to drive your training? How many of you identify multiple areas for improvement and use those areas as building blocks, one on top of the other, to create a comprehensive training plan? How many of you utilize a large portion of time for dry fire practice, or dry manipulation practice (i.e. magazine changes, malfunction clearances, etc, using unloaded weapons and magazines?). How many of you go back to basics and incorporate bullseye shooting into your training regimen? Yes, I know bullseye shooting (practically speaking, with a service weapon, not a special gun) is very difficult, very time intensive, and can take months, even years to master. But remember, bullseye shooting in a practical sense is what will show your strengths and reveal your weaknesses.

Simply put, how many of you take the time to incorporate all of these aspects into your own personal training? It is very difficult to do so. Why? Well, my guess is because it isn’t any fun at all. I ask these questions frequently when I am approached by a very small number of officers in my department who are willing to admit their weaknesses.

Tactical first aid, the ability to understand how and when to apply medical tools to a fallen partner, are just as important as your ability to understand how and when to apply the other tools in your car, on your gear belt. You owe it to yourself, your partners, your family, your community, to seek out qualified training that will better enable you to foster the proper combative mindset.

My thanks go to Isaac for coordinating and hosting this course; to Steve Fisher for his excellent TEACHING of the true art form that is competent weapon’s manipulation and implementation; and to Kerry Davis for building a bridge for me between the weapon’s side of the house, and the life saving side of the house.

Alan

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Alan,

You are a sponge of a student and hell of a warrior brother,
its been my pleasure to have you in those classes and to see you work and think…

and good on you for going that extra step its often easy to forget that is someones family laying there and that you would want the same done for yours or you god forbid,

Stay safe and keep in touch

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Alan,
I am truly humbled by your words. To mirror Steve, you are indeed a true warrior as you are not merely a student of one skillset, but many.

I am extremely passionate about getting this valuable information out there and knowing that it has been taken in and applied is so gratifying and is all the validation I need to carry on and continue to attempt to educate others as best as I can.

It’s an honor to have gotten to work with you and to know you. Stay safe out there brother.

Pocket Doc

Kerry Davis
Tactical Medicine and Firearms Instructor
SIG Sauer Academy

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I miss Kerry :cray:

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I miss you too, you big ol’ teddy bear. :cray:

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AWESOME response.

Three reasons why I train, My Person, My Partner, My Public.

Your workload is impressive Alan, keep us up to date on your new skill set and how it is used in your hot zone. We can all learn a lot.

J.Money

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Thanks fellas. Stay safe.

Alan

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OUTSTANDING POST! You truly “get it.” I wish our LEO’s understood that 9/10 they will get on scene first to a critical incident such as a shooting before Fire gets there. I have NEVER seen a LEO providing any type of medical care whatsoever. I’ve seen them standing over a kid with a gunshot wound doing nothing. I’ve seen them staring at a pt in cardiac arrest and not even doing CPR.

Is that their fault? No. They are taught to secure the scene and then wait for Fire to come in and provide medical. This needs to change though as the 2-4 minutes they are usually on scene before us can be critical when it comes to patient survival. Things as simple as opening a airway, initiating c-spine, applying a tourniquet, applying pressure, cutting away their clothes to expose the gunshot, etc can save us a ton of time and get critical care started that much sooner. These are all simple things IMO all cops should be taught, because at worse, it may be a fellow officer laying there on the ground.

Bravo on you for realizing what you didn’t know about medical care and taking the steps to learn. Your mindset is excellent and I hope you try to educate as many of your fellow LEO’s as possible. Seconds do count so they better educated LEO’s are on critical emergency care the better off all of us are.

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STS,

This can be problematic, though, depending upon the jurisdiction. I can do simple things like compress an injury, provide CPR, etc, but that is all because that is all our county EMS allows us to do. So there are many, many times where I, too, am one of the people standing over someone who has been injured. Or, at the very most, I am doing one of the above tasks.

This is simply because I do not have the personal or professional liability shield to do other things. Even if I had an EMT cert. (which I hope to have by summer), I would not be able to do those things within the scope of my employment. This is very sad to me.

BUT, as I said, I can and will absolutely render life saving measures to a downed officer. Why? Simply because I am fairly certain that officer will not sue me for applying a tourniquet to their extremities, or for packing a bullet wound with hemostatic gauze, etc.

Thanks for the props. I truly appreciate it, in fact I’m not used to hearing it. I am in the final stages of completing a training program for next year’s in service training for my department…just hope it goes through. This is a violent environment, and we are lucky we haven’t been faced with any major on-duty injuries…we just had our 58th homicide of the year, and have had over 700 gunshot victims alone this year (not to include stabbing or beating victims).

Interestingly enough, I am learning there is more to teaching these skills than the conveyance of information. Without the proper mindset, it won’t matter what we teach or what we do. If the student’s cup is full of the shitty belief that they know everything or won’t ever need this information, then all of the good stuff will spill over and all of the crap in the cup will remain.

Stay safe.

Alan

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Excellent aar’s guys vary informative. This is the kind of class I have been looking for hopefully I will be able to swing one this year. aml its a shame you have to worry about being sued if you try and render life saving aid to a victim. It’s even worse that someone would actually sue an officer(or anyone for that matter) for saving their life or attempting to save the life of a loved one if you are unsuccessful. Sad times we live in.