A Guide to IFAK Pouches: The Best Way to Organise Your Tactical First Aid Gear

Being on the battlefield comes with many dangers and potential hazards – without a good first aid kit, you can lose your life. Every army reservist and the practical shooter should have an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) to provide some level of medical care and increase the chances of survival in a critical situation.

The general concept is to treat the wounded with their own IFAK rather than treating other people with your IFAK. Therefore, it is essential that everyone in the unit carries the same first aid supplies and that they are all marked the same way.

What to Carry in the IFAK?

Everyone should carry their IFAK in their specially-designed medical pouch. Typically, these are magazine pouch inserts or easily detachable rip-off pouches that you can quickly pass to your teammate when necessary.

The kit should include supplies for halting bleeding, ensuring breathing, keeping the patient warm, and treating a tension pneumothorax. Such are:

• Survival blanket
• Emergency bandage
• Hemostatic gauze or granules
• Nasopharyngeal airway
• Chest decompression needle
• Vent chest seal
• Heavy painkillers like morphine autoinjectors
• Rubber gloves
• Second tourniquet
• Burn dressings

Nowadays, hemostatic gauzes like the Combat Gauze have largely replaced hemostatic granules. Their undeniable advantage is that, unlike granules, they are difficult to stray from their intended location and are difficult to blow away. A vented chest seal is a must – it’s challenging to create an improvised chest seal from scratch, so why not make things simpler for the medical professional who comes to assist you?

While creating an emergency solution out of plastic wrap and duct tape is possible, using such a device can quickly result in a tension pneumothorax. Also, there’s no vent in the improvised version, and the tape solution prevents pressure buildup from being released because it is so tight.

Because finding the shrapnel holes may take some time, you should also bring shears or another safe cutting tool. Another excellent choice is a strap cutter, which serves various other purposes. Of course, you can use a knife to cut open the clothing, but when you’re under some stress, you can easily make more unnecessary holes in the patient.

Even if you don’t have the training to use some of the items on the recommended list, don’t skip them. Remember that the items in your toolkit are tools for other qualified people who come to your assistance.

Where Should I Carry IFAK?

Many soldiers use the concept of layering their gear. Typically, this concept consists of three layers/lines, each layer serving a particular purpose. The main idea is to separate the essential army equipment along these three lines and place them in a way that works best together. You’ll always have access to the equipment you need, and the closer it is to you, the more crucial it is for the mission at hand or your survival.

You should place the IFAK medical pouch on the second line, meaning you should attach it to the combat vest or plate carrier. That’s in case you’re wearing both your vest and battle belt. When you don’t have the vest, only the belt, you should carry the IFAK on the belt or in your pocket. Of course, you can also wear two or multiple sets, one on your belt and one on your vest.

Some experienced soldiers use a wide padded battle belt with a compact rip-off IFAK placed on the back in a way that is accessible with both hands. Others have a rip-off IFAK pouch on the left backside of the vest carrying a complete set.

Because other people need it to treat you with it, you don’t need to be able to access it. So long as other people can quickly identify it and the contents are the same as the rest of the unit, you can put it anywhere that is out of the way.

Different Types of Medic Pouches

Depending on your needs, you can find many different varieties of IFAK pouches. The size and content of the kit will determine the type of pouch you need.

Single-Cell Medic Pouch

As mentioned before, you can put your IFAK in a single pouch and place it on your battle belt or vest for easy access to those who come to assist you. If you decide to carry a single-cell tactical med kit, choose an option designed with a tear-away patch attached by Velcro and a solid tuck buckle for a fast one-hand release operation. Go for a MOLLE-compatible solution, so it won’t break free until needed.

Most IFAK pouches come in a size range, from small to large. All sizes have a compact design not to interfere with the mission and get in your way while on it. The best size for you depends on your needs and how many supplies you need to carry in it.

Multiple-Cell Medic Pouch

Four and six-cell IFAK pouches have a specific design for army medics to carry all necessary equipment. They’re small enough for tactical field care, where size is critical for combat use without impeding on mission essential equipment carried by the operator or specialist.

These kits typically have removable internal zip pouches that users can arrange to suit their needs and can be used by all medics, from basic to advanced, as their initial treatment kit. All internal pouches are usually interchangeable between packs, while outside parcels have MOLLE for kit expansion.

Tourniquet (TQ) Cover

The tourniquet (TQ) is a tool used to stop bleeding. You can use most of them with just one hand nowadays, having multiple tourniquets on you, placed on both the first and the second line, preferably several on both. Having a separate pouch or a tourniquet cover is crucial for easy access.

Look for an option that is instantly released by a velcro tab at the top when pulled, allowing it to drop open and expose the tourniquet. Check specs to see if the pouch holds SOFTT, C-A-T tourniquet, or both regarding the option you use.