“Want to see a dead person?” My translator casually asked me during my last day working at a rural medical clinic in Haiti after the quake. “How do you know he’s dead?” I asked seriously. My Haitian translator considered this question for a while, “Well… he isn’t moving much”. I booked it the half mile to the dead man with a miniature trauma kit I had made to attempt some emergency medical intervention while others at the clinic gathered more substantial gear. The man was definitely very dead by the time I got there, so I guess my translator was right. But it illustrates an important point. There are times when you need to roll light, however a medical kit is essential to any environment in which you might be in harm’s way (re: always). A micro trauma kit is a good idea, advances in materials and design have allowed us to get those micro trauma kits stupid small. Enter Blue Force Gear with their excellent Micro Trauma Kit NOW! (Micro TKN).

t’s been a hot minute since I’ve worked in the medical field. Putting together a good trauma kit is in my opinion best left to those medics still scrubbing blood from their cuticles. Blue Force Gear tapped some great talent in choosing precisely the equipment needed to stabilize a variety of battlefield injuries until bigger and better people and equipment arrive. The list is as follows:

1) QuickClot Combat Gauze
2) HyFin Vent Chest Seal (2 seals included)
3) Cleer Medical Trauma Bandage 4” Flat Pack
4) Decompression needle
5) Six 2” x9” Frog Tape
6) Size 28 Nasopharyngeal Airway
7) Heavy Duty Medical Gloves in tan (1 pair)

As with everything medical, the equipment is useless without proper knowledge and training. So make sure you get yourself some of that. With the proper knowledge a lot of different life threatening injuries can be effectively treated using the contents of this trauma kit. Some final parting words regarding the content of the BFG Micro TKN, it rocks. It’s well-chosen, with an emphasis on minimalism without sacrificing those implements which can be so desperately needed when things go south. A quick note, there is no tourniquet. I typically wear my tourniquet separate from my IFAK and in a variety of different places so this didn’t bother me. If it is a deal breaker for you, rubber band a tourniquet on top.

 With all of these excellent supplies we need a good pouch. Blue Force Gear doesn’t disappoint. The Micro TKN can be had in Multicam, Black, Coyote Brown, OD Green, and Wold Grey. The Micro TKN features a sleeve that has a medical cross laser cut out with three different backgrounds that can be used (black, red, or a highly reflective glow in the dark background). My particular pouch is beltmounted, however you can get MOLLE mounts as well. The sides of the sleeve stretch to accommodate the medical supplies once packed. The inner pouch and outer are made of a combination of 500D Solution Dyed Cordura, TEX 70 bonded nylon thread, Ten-Speed® Military Grade Elastic, and ULTRAcomp laminate. The combined materials make this pouch very strong, and very abrasion resistant. The inner sleeve features pull tabs on either side, so that the contents can be pulled out in either direction if you have this mounted at the small of your back.

The inner sleeve will fit all of your medical supplies, its a very tight fit. Not room was spared, and you may swear a bit as you put it in, but it fits. The Micro TKN is extremely low profile. When mounted at the small of my back, I didn’t notice any problems when working from vehicles or sitting for long periods of time. At no point did the trauma kit get pulled out or otherwise spill its contents during training in urban / rural environments. During hard tactical movements it held it’s ground as well. Over the time I’ve used it, I’ve come to trust it implicitly along with more substantial medical gear carried in a pack or by a medic.

The Blue Force Gear Micro TKN is a really slick piece of gear. It’s fills an odd niche that is often partially covered by the larger Individual First Aid kits typically worn. I’ve come to appreciate the idea of a micro trauma kit. By separating my trauma gear from my boo boo kit, I thin out the gear worn on my belt line or plate carrier which leads to better mobility for me. Of everything that you were planning to buy this year, I think a good micro trauma kit should be at the top of the list. The Blue Force Gear Micro Trauma Kit is an excellently designed item that will serve you for the years to come and could potentially be a lifesaver when you need it.