Please note the stories listed below may contain harsh language and graphic images! Viewer Discretion IS ADVISED!!

Hi,
I am writing to tell you of my experience with the IFAK.
Just a few days ago I was on my way to take a drug test for my new employer. I was on highway 87 in Arizona halfway to Phoenix in absolute no mans land. I saw a plume of dust and soon arrived at the scene of an Outback upside down in the ditch. It was 110 degrees and near noon. I pulled over and grabbed my IFAK. Two men also pulled over and pulled the lady from the vehicle as I approached the scene. She had two absolutely huge swollen hematomas on her forehead and was covered in blood. We moved her further from the scene because we could smell gasoline and were concerned with a potential explosion.

I was a EMT twice certified so I do have some medical training. Fortunately for her, she was alert. As I began my assessment I looked for active bleeding and her alertness. She remembered what happened. She got dizzy and passed out as she reached for a water bottle going 70 mph and woke up upside down in a ditch.

Thankfully the bleeding stopped quickly. The other men had a camper top with a pull out shade. Thats where we moved her. I made sure she had a sweater underneath her as the asphalt was hot. We had to wait 30 minutes for the ambulance to arrive. We were in the worst possible place for an emergency. I stayed to ensure she didn't need intervention. I was concerned with shock or passing out. During some of the time-- but never straying too far-- I gathered her possessions. I remember picking up her ipads, and even her rearview mirror with glass and ornaments still attached.

Now I can't claim a life saved. However, what I can tell you is the massive boost of confidence I had knowing I had the tools to do something. I meant the world. In this case I didn't wrap her as I knew she was going to get examined, the bleeding stopped, she would need to be cleaned, but I had the tools and stayed for the possible event that shock would over take her and she needed to be revived.

When you buy this kit-- its a novelty-- even with training you don't think your going to use it. On the scene it means the world. It meant enough that I had to buy one for my friend who rides a motorcycle and does many dangerous activities.

I was actually very reluctant to write this. However, I think its important for you to know how you impact the world.

God Bless

                                                                                                                                

Hello.

On the way to church this morning, there was a terrible accident about a minute ahead of us. The guy directly behind them, (who saw it) called 911. We pulled on to the shoulder, (medics hadn’t arrived) and the driver’s arm was crushed and mostly severed.  He was bleeding out so I used my “stop the bleed” training and tourniquet from my car to stop his bleeding just below the shoulder. 

My family stayed with the children, who by that time, had crawled out of the car until the police and paramedics showed up and told us we could go.

It’s now evening and Officer Barefield with Carrollton PD just called to tell me (per the doctors) I saved the drivers life and they want to tell me thank you and the family wants to say thank you too.

Glory to God.

It’s overwhelming.

I just wanted to tell you that I’m so thankful for the training, you are making a difference and saving lives. I’d also like to take you up on your offer of sending a new tourniquet to replace the one I used this morning.

Thank you!

I have been watching the Bear Independent channel since Bear was in North Texas. I am a deputy with a sheriffs office in far Northern California. Today, my wife’s family came to our small town, visiting from Reno, Nevada. My brother-in-law brought some fireworks with him, from out of state. Needless to say, the cool
kind of fireworks, us peasants are not able to have here in commie, I mean California. At approximately 1648, my brother lit off a firework, and had a mishap. He blew off 4 of his fingers and was bleeding profusely. I ran to my porch approximately 30 feet away, grabbed my duty belt which I always carry your Small of Back kit on. I immediately put the tourniquet from the SOB kit on his right arm, right above his elbow on his lower bicep. My wife had already grabbed a big towel and wrapped his hand. While I was doing all of this, my next door neighbors witnessed the injury as well. I instructed them to call 911 for
an ambulance. After I applied the tourniquet to my brother in law and the ambulance had been called, my wife’s sister, who is very naïve to the world yells “Where the fuck is the ambulance? Do they just let people die around here?!?!?”. I instructed my mother in law to drive him to our local hospital, which she is very familiar with. After the end of the night when my brother
in law was stable, he was flown by helicopter to UC Davis hospital for emergency surgery. The original Dr at the hospital in our small town told my brother in law and sister in law, that he was a very lucky man and whoever put the tourniquet on him saved his life. I ended up having a long, overdue talk with my sister in law that night. We have never seen eye to eye. I explained to her that when seconds count, help is only minutes away. I basically told her that no one is coming for you, you must be self sufficient. We are all responsible for the safety and well-being of ourselves and the ones we love. We need to be
prepared and well trained to deal with everything we possibly can, that comes our way. Thanks Bear and Team for the awesome kits. I appreciate y’all.

God bless y’all!

Not too sure where to send this, but I just wanted to thank y’all for such a great product. I bought the BearFak with the C.A.T T, and Swat T. a good while back, but carry it with me everyday. Unfortunately I had to use it on Saturday the 2nd after my wife had a mortar prematurely ignite in the tube. Taking her hands almost clean off. I’ve never been so scared in my life, but thankfully God gave me the strength, and courage to act fast, and apply the C.A.T on her right arm, and Swat T on the left. I know she would not be here today if I had not had your kit, and the knowledge gained from your channel. It’s going to be a long recovery, keep her in your prayers. God bless.

P.s will be ordering multiple kits once we find out the damage for these hospital bills. They are a necessity for everyone in my eyes now. I can’t thank you enough.

I live live in SW Ohio. I'm an ER doc, I met you and brother Richard at the ‘Stop the Bleed’ course in Indianapolis April'21. You probably don't remember me but we talked for a good while about cricothyrotomies. I’ve done 3 in my career and we discussed the procedure - but you mentioned that because of legal stuff you probably couldn’t teach them in your courses. Was cool to meet you anyhow, i’ve been watching nearly all of your vids for3-4 years now and i joined your patreon a few years back. (Love the Bible studies on YouTube, BTW.)

Amazingly, 3 days after the Indy course, my woman, Jennifer, used one of the blue training tourniquets i bought from you after the course at an MVC where she applied it to the driver's leg to stop a femoral arterial bleed. I do believe she was ‘life saved #17.’ BTW, thank you for sending us a replacement tourniquet for that.

Well, tonight at work in the ER, I saved a life with another one of your tourniquets. Of course, in the ER, we have CAT tourniquets available for trauma patients.

... but they aren't exactly as within arm's length as one would expect or desire. If you want a tourniquet you have to physically go get one from a far-from-ideal location in the ER.

Yes, yes, western medicine is severely flawed in innumerable, so many frustrating ways. No surprise. And here's another great example. (Freaking CMS... but that's another story.)

In any case, because of the potential wait time to get a damn tourniquet, I ALWAYS carry a CAT tourniquet in the pocket of my white coat. You know, just in case.

Tonight, I had a young man come in through the triage desk, rather than by medic (by which most of our trauma patients arrive to the ER). He was up in a tree, using a chainsaw to cut a limb. Well he did cut a limb. It bounced back and took a large bite out of his medial forearm. Caused an open fracture. He jumped out of the tree and found he was bleeding profusely. His coworkers aptly placed a makeshift tourniquet on his arm and stopped the bleed. However, by the time he got to me, the tourniquet was looking like it was about to fail. And there was a large chunk of missing arm, he needed a definitive tourniquet ASAP.
So, i applied the CAT (bear) tourniquet i always keep on me, mitigated the bleed, and got him back to pulselessness.

He screamed.

But he lived. And i gave him some much deserved pain meds.
I transferred him to our main trauma center for emergency surgery.

I’m not sure which ‘save#’ this is but I’m proud to add another save to Refuge Medical‘s list of lives saved.

You do God’s good work, as do all your people. I’m proud to have played a part of the good work The Father is doing through you, albeit indirectly. Or directly in this case. Proud to be part of Bear Nation.

In the middle of it all, i was thinking about the “you just got shot in the left arm!” you kept yelling out at the course. I’m trained in ATLS, of course, but it was a nice refresher for someone with my training, and an imperative course for the untrained layperson who wants to be prepared for stuff like this.

So there you go, another life saved by one of Refuge Medical’s tools, by a Bear Nation-er. If you feel like sending me a replacement, I’ll certainly keep it on me, as usual.

________________________________________________________________

PT1:Tonight I was in a 6 car pile up on my way into work. I carry the Bear minimum in my car as my medical kit for my family. Fortunately, I had minimal injuries. However, I was able to render aid to 2 people involved in the accident. One had head trauma that was bleeding profusely. In order to stop the bleed, I had to use the combat gauge and wrap the pressure bandage around their head. The person had a laceration that extended across their forehead from their left ear to the bridge of the nose. The second person had an open femur fracture of the left leg. I used the CAT tourniquet to stop the leg from bleeding. I am a surgical trauma nurse at our local level 1 trauma hospital in Philadelphia. I just wanted to say thank you for making an awesome kit. 

 PT2: 

So my roommate was on the Amtrak train that derailed in Missouri. I sent her with my tourniquet I bought from you guys. She used it to stop "OH SHIT" level bleeding from the thigh of a middle aged man. Medical personal said he would have bled out and dies if it weren't for the aid she rendered! Praise Yah!!! Love you all!!!

Good afternoon,

I recently started CDL school in my home town of Murfreesboro TN. Today one of my classmates was standing by the mechanics area near the schools smoke pit when two rabid dogs (pitbull mixes) that were hiding near the trash cans attacked him. After my classmates and I ran the dogs off I ran to my car and grabbed the pouch from the back of my head rest. My classmate had sizeable chunks missing from both his left and right calves with one of the arteries being cut in his right leg.

Thankfully I am prior military and was able to remember my CLS training. I applied a tourniquet and the quick clot gauze to his right leg while one of my instructors, also prior military, used the compression gauze to stop the bleeding from his left leg.

My classmate is now at the hospital getting his rabies shots and his legs fixed up. I don't know yet how bad the artery was hit, but nonetheless I am very thankful that I bought my bearfak and had it handy in my car since my school only has the equivalent of a boo boo kit.

On the way to work today I came around corner to see car flipped and on fire… no EMS… pulled over and saw truck stopping as I got out of car… I saw he had a fire extinguisher and was heading toward car… seeing it was SUV I grabbed STOMP bag and IFAK modified with extra goodie’s and jumped median to see a man hanging upside down in car being talked to by first man on crash… smoke coming from engine which soon turned to flames. First guy was retired cop and said we shouldn’t move him he might have spinal injury…. As I crawled through broken glass I asked the man his name, what day it was and where he was heading he answer all answers correctly I then asked if he could wiggle toes fingers and bend knees…. No major bleeding but hanging upside down I ask if he wanted to be moved… letting him know the car was on fire. I could here the other gentleman spraying his fire extinguisher. Two other men showed up. Welcome to the south or divine providence… thanks Yah… I instructed one to take flash light and direct traffic to make sure we didn’t get hit. I applied c collar to the old gentleman and slid hand to assess spine. Pro/ professional tip ask response team to trade… got a much less cool guy white collar from EMS. Thanks for the army green collar bear. The other guy I handed my pocket knife too and said cut the seat belt I will let him down slow. We laid a reflective dashboard cover found on crash scene on roof of car and let him down easy to roof then pulled him out and moved him away from crash as cars where still coming by at unexpected high speed. AAR… Sustains alway have tools on you…. Light used and recovered… knife with separate seat belt cutter used and not returned might I add… no big deal… forgot to ask for it back… improve. Sustain get training remember to survey scene and take appropriate risk. Car on fire…. Pro tip if tires go up it will likely be to hot to get driver and front seat out without appropriate gear. Improve add extinguisher to car trunk. I was second to scene and only used c collar and sharpie. I had one of the men grab paper and wright down name fist of kin DOB and meds he was on. Some of us have had training prior to bears responded one class. Which you should take. I did. I don’t say this to brag but to let you know where I am coming from… I have had a lot of training. NOTHING REPLACES TRAINING. I have had Eagle Scout, life guard 4x, CNA, Wilderness first responder, CLS twice ALS Once then worked JCSAR in the army. I have a degree in nutrition. It is mindset, skill set, tool set. Get training from Bear and his team. Special thanks for all you do.

aleichem shalom!!

I don't know if I can quite consider my life back to "normal" yet. I'm starting to think that "normal" is an illusion. I just got off a SERT call out where we chased an armed fugitive through the desert. (I'm the sniper on our Sheriff's Office SERT team.) I wish I could say that was an unusual thing for us, but lately it's just business as usual. I'm still covered in dust and in my cammies, but I do have a few minutes and I've been wanting to email you the details since I sent my first email.

Here's what happened that day...

On May 14th I was on a regular shift when my partner (we work 2 deputies to a shift and cover 3200 square miles between us) was on a residential burglary at a remote cabin in our county and there was still a truck there which meant a higher likelihood that the dirtbag was still in the area or in the cabin itself. We have had a rash of burglaries from two particular unsavory characters we are familiar with. We had recently caught one, and the second was known to be armed and go down fighting. I hightailed it across the county and we called out some detectives to help. This call was not where I used the BearFak but it put me in a position to use it, so it goes to show how Yah uses small and simple means to accomplish his work. Multiple officers/detectives/admin were out on this call when we received a medical call just a few miles down the road. I was the closest to the patrol vehicles so I was assigned to take it. Again, this was a small miracle since I am the only deputy in my department with a BearFak. A 50-something year old husband and father had been working on a construction project on his home when he had an accident and had completely amputated his right hand. I arrived at the same time that an EMT did in their personal vehicle. Since they were in their personal vehicle they did not have much in the way of medical equipment. We ran up to the front door and knocked loudly but there was no answer. I told the EMT I would run around to the back of the house and see what I could find. As I rounded the corner I could see a stack of lumber and an assortment of power tools. I called out and heard the wife reply. I ran to where they were and found the wife holding a towel and a makeshift tourniquet made with a belt from a bathrobe and a wooden spoon. The only thing that managed to do was slow the bleeding from a spurting to a steady flow. I assume this is because of the stretchy qualities of the bathrobe fabric, thereby not enough clamping pressure can be applied to successfully cut off the flow of blood effectively. There was significant blood all over the tools. The gentleman had blood splatter (I assume from the actual accident itself plus the spurting from his hand) from his head to his feet. His lap was full of blood, the chair he was sitting in was full and there was a growing puddle under the chair. I grabbed the gen 7 CAT tourniquet from my BearFak and applied it to the injured arm. It was quicker due to the pre-staging of the tourniquet. I got it twisted down and shut off the blood flow completely. The gentleman started going into shock. He was cold to the touch, sweaty, and started telling me he couldn't see me, and just saw an outline. His eyes started to roll back and his breathing got shallow and slow. I kept waking him up and kept him talking about his young daughter, who was in the house, until the ambulance arrived. During my patient care I relayed information to the incoming ambulance, including the patient going into shock. It took several more minutes until the ambulance was able to find our location, but they eventually arrived. The ambulance took over patient care, at which time I took over with LifeFlight to guide them in and secure a landing zone from them. They arrived, stabilized the patient and flew him out. I heard back later from the wife that because of the tourniquet, not only did the gentleman live but they were able to save PART of his hand. That in and of itself is a miracle. That hand was a mess. It was unrecognizable as a hand when I saw it. It was NOT a clean amputation. But that may be too much information. The only equipment I ended up using was the tourniquet. But, thankfully I had it, and it did it's job.

Thanks again for selling these kits!

Hello
I just wanted to let you know that you made someone's day a little better.
A 68 YO woman, who is a prominent business owner in the area, had a nasty motorcycle accident right down the road from my house. Initially the idiot's around her made us very suspicious as to wtf the activity that was going on was all about. So after observing some strange behavior from some motorcyclists for a few minutes me and my wife got in our car to go turn in her time sheet, we noticed a woman exiting the woods maybe 80 yards from our driveway, we were puzzled so my wife drove by so I could inspect the situation.
Upon pulling up on them I immediately noticed a woman face down on top of a pile of brush, in the middle of a huge trough that her bike had dug at least 10 yards off the road. Initially I asked what was going on, the woman who had been walking in and out of the woods told me it was fine, they were fine, they didn't need any help.
The hair on the back of my neck was standing up so I was like "no, I got a med kit in the car, I don't know wtf is going on but you're on my property so I'm coming to check."
I got the feeling from the 2 guys that were continually coming and going that had I not been obviously packing that things might have been different, I don't know why, I don't for the life of me understand wtf the mentality of these people was. But they did not want assistance, neither did the woman who needed it, despite the fact that she couldn't feel her friggen legs or move anything below her waste!
I jumped out of the car, grabbed my smash kit and ran down to see what was going on, everyone got out of my way which I thoroughly appreciated. The woman had wrecked hard into the pucker brush, around a pretty sharp corner. Her head was in rough shape, no helmet, I put a cold pack on it to keep the swelling down until help arrived.
My wife parked the car back in the driveway and walked up, as soon as she got there we prepositioned the neck brace and with my wife and the nearby woman we flipped her over so we could make sure she wasn't impaled, being careful to not move her neck or back anymore than necessary. As it turns out her back was broken in 3 places. Her skull was fractured in a few places and her neck was messed up too.
Funny enough as soon as we had it under control I asked what the game plan was. The nimrod she was apparently riding with asked if anyone had called 911... I was kind of shocked, my wife called while I inspected her wounds. My wife is the nurse so I got out of her way and let her have at it as soon as she was done with dispatch.
The responders left my neck brace on and chose to use what I had available rather than what they had, not because they were cheap, but rather because ours was better 🙄. Not even kidding the first dudes to show up were from the fire department and they didn't even have so much as an IFAK. I also got to see there neck brace... I know I wouldn't want it on me.
I want to make sure that you guys know I'm not looking for any freebies, I honestly don't know if we had any effect on the outcome. I take quite a lot of pride in sending you guys money for gear when I can afford it. I like your company and what you stand for. I was just letting you know that the responders referred to us as her guardian angels.
As such you guys who provided us with the equipment and bear who pep talked me into getting off my ass and preparing deserve some credit.
Last I checked (small town Maine) the woman who crashed is getting put back together at the hospital and will hopefully walk again.
I just wanted to thank you guys for your superior products and no bullshit advice, it helped this woman out a lot. Maybe some day I'll be able to afford to take the time off work and do a proper training in PA so I can be as boss as my wife was 😁.

PT1: Got life 3 today. Was in the mountains of Northern California, Shasta County new a small town named Burney. Was changing out the main winch cable on a 50 ton crane when the young man doing the same on a 30 ton had his cable bind in the scale box and snapped. The 5/8 inch cable whipped back, went through his front windshield, and into his right clavicle/chest and shredded his shoulder. 3 inches to the left and his head would've been on the ground. Massive bleeding, punctured lung, and only 4 people on-site including he and I. We were 23 miles from the nearest paved road and 45 minutes from town. I put my plate carrier, with SlimFAK inserted behind front plate, in my crane cab and darn near had the thing on before I hit the ground. Had planned on rucking after work, but Yah had other plans. I had to improvise a chest tube with a 3/8 pvc fitting and wish I had a surgical kit handy, but the SlimFAK and the Father were all I needed to save the man's life. Thank you for helping me save these lives. Yah did right through you and His hands were surely guiding mine while on this path he's laid before me. Love you brother.

PT2: One update since yesterday's event is that once the young man was life-flighted to the nearest hospital he went into surgery to repair his lung and fractured clavicle. Upon coming out of it he asked if he could "go back". The doctor asked him "Go back where?", to which he replied "Jesus asked me to come home to him and then I woke up here. I think I need to go to church". I'm sitting by his side right now and the questions and desire from him for the Father is more amazing than the fact that he is still breathing! This young man was anything but a believer, and the light in his eyes is just bursting with excitement at the concept of being closer to Him.

Seen a man walk out in front of a truck yesterday while on our way to a deer friends funeral. My husband quickly flipped a U-turn and I jumped out with the bear fak 2.0 and started rendering aid. His face was pouring blood and shock had already started to set in. The responding officer seen it happen as well but left his kit in the car until he seen me then went back and retrieved his bit I already had it under control. The gentleman became combative and tried to run back into traffic, at that time I pulled him to the ground and continued pressure on the wounds. The impact of the truck almost tore his upper lip off and gashed his forehead wide. He then seen the officer and attempted to go after his weapon. At that point my husband stopped doing traffic control and restrained him for the officer to apply cuffs. At that point I extracted myself from the situation and allowed EMS to perform their job. As it turns out he was a a psych patient with schizophrenia and I am so thankful I was smart enough to remove my side arm prior to jumping into action. Went back to our vehicle to find our 9 year old daughter crying, not knowing exactly what happened. With some explanation and care we calmed her down then went about our day. Thank you for selling quality products and providing quality training (Tallahassee.) We used a quick clot and an abdominal pad (the only thing I could think to cover the whole span of injury) to stop him from bleeding out. Thank you again

Well just wanted to let everyone know Bears IFAK is the real deal, got rear ended on my motorcycle the other day getting onto the highway at 65 mph and thrown about 50 feet landing on my Bug Out Bag but mollied onto the back is the Bear IFAK and let me tell you it helped save my life in unintentional ways, i didnt have to use it but the IFAK and my BOB worked as an airbag saving my life when I hit the ground. i am truly blessed to be alive thats for sure clearly the big man has something instore for me and is not yet ready to let me go from this earth. So i just wanted to give a little shout out to Bear and the crew thank you guys for making such a badass piece of safety equipment it has airbag capabilities aswell so add that onto the list haha
I posted some picture on discord of the IFAK condition under BearNation
I hope you all have a wonderful day

Dear Refuge Medical and Family-

I often hear you sharing statistics on how many lives have been saved with your IFAKs. I am now feeling convicted to share mine. Please feel free to share our story. I hope to help reach anyone that may be asking themselves, ‘Is it really worth the money?’

My husband has been an avid subscriber to Bear Independent for a few years now, and is apart of the prayer group and participates weekly in the Zoom meetings and has lead a few meetings. The content created by Bear, Sanctified Supply Co., LOOMF, The Dudley’s, Shieldbearer of Faith, Crazy Canuck, Madkelt, Kosher Dad, and many others has helped us find our way home to YHWH. We have been so lost for so long, so (first off) Shalom, thank you!

With that being said, he has wanted to purchase a Bear FAK and other items for a long time. We have five children at home, and in 2020 I was diagnosed with Leukemia and was out of work, so on one income, my health was declining, so many mouths to feed, and our hearts were not yet with YHWH; we could not justify making such a large purchase. I also work in the medical field (orthopedics), so I am trained in trauma and wound care and never considered SHTF situations. Being sick also made me realize that my training is useless if I am not around to use it (being sick made me realize many things, but that is the most relevant to this story). Fast forward a few months, and we are prepping! We have food, water, shelter, chickens, medical supplies, etc. We are learning and coming out of the darkness. We are praying for guidance in our next steps, and we are brought back to our medical supplies. We have a hefty surplus but nothing compacted enough to take on the go when needed.The only answer to this dilemma is Bear FAKS. We started with a BearMIN and SOB kit. Less than a month after receiving them, I was driving home from work on the highway, and a minivan ahead of me was sideswiped and pushed off into the woods at high speeds. Sparing the gory details, a tourniquet and a few other supplies were needed, and I was the only one whohad them ready to go. I applied the tourniquet, dressed the wounds the best I could for the injury, and kept the man talking until the police showed. They said I did the right thing, thanked me, and sent me on my way, EMT’s were very close. I do not know what happened after that. I do know that there were no fatalities. I also now realize that it could just as easily have been my husband, child, or family member, and spending the money on even just a BearMIN is a much better (and cheaper) option than losing a limb! There is no higher quality on the market than the quality that comes from Refuge Medical! I continue to pray for that man and hope that he is healing in YAH’s light! Our next step is to attend a Responder 1 training!

Thank you, Refuge Medical and family; you are appreciated and loved!

You asked me to contact you about my comment using the IFAK I bought and had to use on my son.

I can’t and don’t air too much about me or my past online so you’ll see me as Maurice online. Former NET(Narcotics enforcement) here in Michigan so I have had advanced training in FA and build my own kits and replace expired/used gear as Necessary. So I purchased your bearFAK about two months ago just to try and because of pricing I actually couldn’t believe your price point and quality. Our 20 year old finally flew the coup and got a job at a small steel factory near Detroit Michigan, about two weeks ago we get a phone call and a picture of his arm slit wide open for a sheet of steel with a text saying help they don’t have first-aid here all I had in my truck at the time was my bear FAK. I usually have my EDC as well but did not that day. So I hightailed it to his work , cleaned the wound, used the quick clock bandage wrapped it then a couple pieces of tape to hold everything together and got him to the ER where it required 22 stitches so thanks to you for such a great product super easy for me to explain to everyone who was panicking how to open, What open and hand me and he’s healing fine! The way it sliced luckily didn’t damage any arteries! God bless you all who build these!

I wanted to say thank you for a great kit. (I have several)
I endured an accidental discharge of a 9mm to the leg last evening. My TQ was 10 feet away and self administered in about 3 minutes. It really was a game changer for me! The next one i get from you needs to be one that doesn't hurt so much! Thanks again, i had everything i needed at my fingertips!

Hello Bear Nation, Refuge Medical

I submitted my story yesterday via the contact us form. I wanted to follow up and provide an update on the status of the child involved.

The original submission: T-Bone Collision, child eject, aprox 6 yrs, of age. Massive head trauma, contusion blood loss from side of head and cheek bone. Applied pressure with z fold gauze to cheek injury. Officer applied gauze to head injury. Held child until emts arrived. Child was responsive but traumatized

More Detailed report follow up:

I was one of the first on scene just prior to a motorcycle police officer.

The accident was a collision involving a child ejection aprox 6-10 years of age. The child exhibited Massive head trauma (Lacerations on the skull), a large contusion about the size of a softball and major blood loss from side of head and cheek bone (Deep Laceration just below the eye). I carefully removed blood from around the Childs eyes and applied pressure with gauze to the cheek and facial injuries to stop the blood loss and held the child while the officer applied gauze to the head injuries. We continued first responder care until EMTs arrived. The Child was responsive but traumatized during the accident.

The Officer that was on the scene with me shook my hand, and thanked me for helping stating that he may not have been able to treat the child on his own since the child was moving during treatment. 

I wanted to say thanks for a great IFAK. I had gotten one last year as a gift, thought it was great, much better than the grease rags and duct tape we normally kept at the farm. It pretty much sat there gathering dust for quite some time until the last two weeks. I had one of my workers chop a finger off while working cattle in a squeeze chute, not a life threatening wound for sure, but kept him from bleeding all over the seats in my pickup for the 1 hour trip to the hospital. THEN, last week, had another guy stick his arm between the loader arms and the cab on a skid loader while trying to start it with either in the cold, well, the genius in the cab hit the lever and the loader arms came down crushing his arm and ripping quite a bit of flesh loose. Tourniquet, dressings, bandage, pads, and every bit of gauze came to use getting that mess under control, who'd have thought a pair of shears would come in so handy? Finally sell-out commie bastard Carhartt coat contained the drips and dribbles for the trip to the hospital...for the second time this year! Troubles comes in 3's they say so looking forward (sarcasm, lol) for whats to come. Anyway, I have seen the light as to having some good kits around and I'm going to have to round up some cash to stock more of these or just get the wound care bucket with the way things are going! Anyway, thanks for the great product, I will be ordering several soon! I have seen the light on keeping some good kits versus the trash Chicom knockoffs from box stores or Amazon.

I am not sure if you would call it a save or not but I did have to use one of your Kits today. After successfully dropping a rather sketchy tree I went to drive the ax I was using to bang wedges into the stump. Unfortunately the stump was frozen causing the ax to skip into my foot. It cut through my redwings and left me with a deep laceration on inside high arch area of my foot. As I pulled the ax away not know what had happened I looked down to see the blood roll out of my boot. I applied a tourniquet and meet the medic at our fire station. It was not arterial bleeding but my sock and boot were quickly filled. Three staples later I am ready to go back at it.

Chest down to I live in North Carolina was driving down the road and witnessed a head-on collision of a drunk driver and a woman and her 15 year old son it was pretty brutal I had two refuge medical I fax that were given to me for Christmas one was on my battle belt one is in my truck I witnessed the accident grab the medical bag ran up to the car the glass from the head-on collision had destroyed the young guy's face I used to pressure bandages to stop the bleeding on him his mother had been cut from jagging metal from the door and was bleeding profusely I tried to stop her bleed with the benches at first couldn't so I applied a tourniquet wrote the time on the tourniquet and seized it when the ambulance Raleigh Police department and state troopers came they said that my actions had saved her life and probably made the damage to the kids face last because I stopped the bleeding I don't want to take anything replaced I will buy another kit I just want you guys to know that it's saving lives out here and the way the world's going we need more people like you all shalom and thank you!

Used my Bear fake and the training I received in Indiana this last April for 2 people involved in a car rec today.
In particular I remembered what brother twitch had said evaluating and keeping them calm until a higher level of care could get there.
I applied a gaze pad from the bear fak to a head would that was just bleeding a little but mainly just kept them talking well I cleard a path for the rescue squad.
It was difficult because the car was turned on its side and the roof was crushed .
But we got them out. The male John was air lifted to the twin cities in Minnesota and the female Rachel was taken by ambulance to a local hospital.
Wild ride and I am praying for the fathers healing hands.
I need more training.
The local rescue was under trained and had a hard time communicating with emts and it took almost an hour 8n 28 degree weather before everyone got there and got them out.
I am grateful for the training I received from Refuge Medical but I know I need more training and will get it as soon as I can afford it.

PT1: You'll be glad to know my IFAX my daughter bought me for Christmas last year has now been used @ 2 different accident seines before Fire/ Rescue got there , one a serious head trauma during a back country ATV accident and the other a compound leg fracture @ an auto accident. It worked OUTSTANDING ! 
PT2: The first time I used my IFAX was to treat a head injury during a ATV club ride early this Spring.
PT3: The second time was just about 3 1/2 - 4 weeks ago after witnessing a car accident where it left the road at high speed crashing into several trees. That was a serious compound leg fracture with pretty severe blood loss. I won't expect you to replace items as I've spent about 45 years with either the Forest Service doing high angle rescue, as a SOLO wilderness first responder , 31 years with my local Fire Rescue Dept. and >16 years in law enforcement & back country rescue with the Forest Service. YOU'D GO BROKE KEEPING ME RESUPPLIED ! Though retired now , it seems I'm always at the right place at the right time,,,depending on how you look at it ,,,LOL ?

Just wanted to let you know that a Bear Fak possibly saved another life! Maybe two! My family and I (wife 3 kids, 3 dogs) were camping and my stepson came up with his girlfriend. A random dog wandered over from another campsite and attacked my 4 month old puppy. My oldest dog (12 years old) then attacked the wandering dog. The dog was a pit, and locked onto my oldest dog. Me and my step son and I wrestled with the pit to get him off of my dog. I drew my 9mm, but there was no clean shot....so I reholsted, and re-engaged the dog with my step son. What felt like and eternity was over in less that 5 mins. My puppy was fine....my oldest dog had multiple puncture wounds to her neck and face. My stepson had multiple dog bite wounds all up and down his left hand and arm, and was bleeding very badly. With the medical training my wife has, and the contents of the bearfak, we were able to stabilize both my dog and my stepson before hauling ass to the local er which was 50 minutes away

I have a 55 liter medical backpack that I take whenever we go camping, but its huge. I didn't have room for the whole medical bag. So I just took the bearfak I bought about 3-4 months ago and figured that was enough. And it was. Thank you!!!

I'm a ret combat medic and alcohol and fire works don't mix mt buddies girl friends son loaded a motor tub upside down held it in his hand and bang severe hand trauma used a quick clot dressing to pack the wound then wrapped it with with the trauma dressing and made it into a compression dressing the ambulance got here in minutes the idiots on the ambulance wanted to cut my dressing off to look at the injury I wouldn't let them he went to emergency surgery to repair the arterie in his wrist that night two more surgeries followed he's still healing glad I purchased the minimum and the cub wish I would have hade that kind of gear when I was deployed in Iraq

The only thing that was used was the tourniquet, I purchased. I recieved one from the level one class recently in Roanoke
. Yes I'm #22. I'll send aa couple pics of what the accident looked like, your welcome to use them. The most important thing besides finding yah through this was now I know, I'll be carrying a kit with me from now on. In the blink of an eye you can be fighting for your life. I was a few hundred yards from my house luckily I was carrying and my weapon and tourniquet were at my cabin 50 ft away. My wife always used to ask why I carried it and my response is always the same. I carry a gun (concealed permit), if I have the capability to injury someone I need to be able to keep them alive if warranted.
If anything I'd like you to give bear a message. He prayed on my hand that yah look after me and later that day I went to my surgeon and recieved the best news I figure I could have. No pins screws or plates needed just alor of therapy. Maybe a plastic joint in a finger but that was it. Also I am reading the scriptures he gave me from his truck!
May you all be blessed in everything you strive to accomplish 🙏.
I owe my life to that tourniquet took 30 min for ambulance and I had to be helicoptered to DC 2 hours away.
I'll always be willing to tell my story to anyone. Trust in yah and the great peaple around you.
Thanks for reaching out brother.

Good morning,

I hope this email finds you well. The purpose of this correspondence is to relay the following information regarding the use of your BearFAK product during a call for service in the Central Virginia area.

I was dispatched along with my partner to a shots fired call in the Diamond Hill area of our jurisdiction. Knowing the area, I anticipated that this was likely going to be more than fireworks. While on the way I grabbed my rifle after more information came in that dramatically increasing the number of shots being exchanged between the unidentified parties.

We were the first on scene and cleared the street of any immediate threats. We found a significant number of casings as well as a wounded man and a car that had seen better days. Initially, I thought he was dead but my partner was able to get him talking so I rushed back to our squad car to get my med kit.

After working through P-MARCH-P and sweeping for additional injuries it was determined that he had only three injuries. Two were extremely dangerous while the third could potentially kill him if any bone had nicked an artery. I ended up using the two chest seals provided in your pack to seal the wounds to his abdominal/thoracic cavity. I had to play with the placement somewhat to cover both holes since I only had two chest seals and he had exit wounds to consider. Ultimately it worked out but I plan on carrying at least four seals in the future, possibly six if they fit. The leg was treated using a tourniquet. Medics took over at this point and the process was a quick one. Without looking at my BWC I would guess maybe three-to-five minutes including clearing the area, retrieving my kit and cutting off his clothes to treat while maintaining 360 degree security.

I made a few mistakes and while I had inventoried my kit when it was given to me by my father. I hadn’t touched it in a month or two. That slowed me down looking for the chest seals. I almost went with the abdominal seals but thought better of it. It was extremely dark and I had to use my light to even attempt to find it. However, because your product was neat and organized the time lost was negligible and the feel of the chest seal packaging was distinct. The seal was fantastic due to the adhesive. I caught myself being surprised by the quality of the seal itself during application. Weird, but you notice things. It was better than what I had in my old CLS bag. That’s why it stood out.

My understanding is the man lived and is recovering. Back in 2010-2011ish I was a combat engineer and had some decent training from the Corps CLS program. I certainly benefited from their intermediate live tissue course. It made a big difference on that deployment in one particular moment and that training has stayed with me however imperfectly.

You guys are making a great product. Being able to pull out the whole package and unroll the kit makes a big difference in the dark. One of the best Christmas presents I’ve gotten although I’m sure I gave my dad a heart attack when I sent him a picture of the empty seals. Had to do some damage control on that one. 

Gmornin and blessings,

Hey Bear, this isn’t one of those life saving event stories involving my BearFAK, but it did prevent a potentially bad infection. While sandblasting some steel parts for a client(because that’s what I do, I blast stuff with sand...really fast sand) I inadvertently stepped on my send/return air lines, causing my blast nozzle to go in a direction I didn’t intend it to go in...end result: I sandblasted through my pants and into my lower thigh. Thanks to a well packed BearFAK, I was able to quickly debride the wound, apply antibacterial cream, bandage the wound and get back to work. Thanks to all who put their time and effort into making these things, it came in handy for me!

I attended the stop the bleed class in Indianapolis on the 24th. My husband Larry is an ER doc and I am a paramedic. It was an honor to be trained by you and your staff. Three days later, on my way home from one weird encounter after another, different driving route, completely strange day... which I believe was Yah guiding my steps that day, I encountered a horrible MVA. A vehicle that had been struck, the occupant trapped.

The gentleman who was trapped in the vehicle had a massive leg injury with an arterial bleed to the left leg. I could hear the blood puddling into his shoe when I assessed him. I still had my kit
from class in the vehicle and was able to apply the tourniquet to his leg and stop the bleeding which I am told saved his life.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude and thanks to you and your crew for that training on April 24th. Even as a medic, I would not have had the training or means to save this man had I not attended. It took 6 minutes after the initial call for crews to arrive. He had lost massive amounts of blood when I approached the scene from my own car. All of that training kicked into gear and IT WORKS!! I could hear all of your voices in my head as I was working...

Your class and my attendance was no mistake that day.

Glory be to God and thank you, Bear!!!! God Bless you all!!!!!

Hello, Bear!. I have been trying to remind myself for a few weeks now to reach out and contact you to express and thank you for the help you have given me. The story goes as simple as I was cutting a chunk of tin in my kitchen to use as some flashing under my kitchen sink to repair a leak I have around the edge of the sink itself. was using some tin sheers and working away around the outline I had traced in marker, when I'm not sure how, but the tin sheet some how kinda curled back and I dropped it. As it was falling it hit me on my left wrist and sliced a massive cut across the Radial Artery. And it was really bad. Lucky for me my 12 year old daughter was home. I called out to her to come help me. when she came in the kitchen blood was all over the place. I told her to grab some towels from the bathroom. We tried to slow the bleeding but the cut was actually really bad, as it wasn't just a cut, the tin actually tore away a chunk of flesh as it fell. (Sorry for the gross details). So as we both were on the floor in the kitchen freaking out, I remembered that I had your BearMIN first aid kit that was given to me as a gift from a coworker who is into preparedness, and knows 1. I go to the range often to shoot my firearms (yes even in Canada), and 2. I'm a chef and from time to time try my darndest to mangle myself up somehow in the kitchen.

I told her to go into my closet where I keep my firearms, and my supplies as well as your MED kit. She brought it back to me and together we worked to bandage me up. We used the tourniquet, the Israelis Bandage some of the 6" trauma dressing and some of the tape to slow the bleeding. Yes I know what your thinking a bit overkill with how big the Israelis Bandage is but at the time we were basically trying everything to slow the bleeding. Now we are now talking about 6-8 minutes after I got cut, and I most likly was starting to go into shock a bit because my daughter was telling me that I was kinda slow and lethargic.

I wanted to express 2 important points, 1. I watch all your videos, and have practiced a few times using the touriquet with you at the same time. Remember the video where you put one on for like 5 minutes and proceeded to read the Bear daily briefing, while it hurt like hell. LOL, and everyone in the chat was saying take the thing off now it hurts to much and you kept saying it's supposed to hurt! Practicing with you those times made all the difference in me knowing what to get her to do and how to do it. 2. The IFAC itself with the inner sleeve that just pulls out and then simply unfolds. The simplicity of that set alone helped her, who had never seen the kit before in her life, get it out and open really fast. After thinking about what I was told by the doctors as to just how much blood I lost, they told me every second counted honestly, and the design of the kit is a strong point that I know you say it often, but cant be said enuff.

So to end the story, The ambulance arrived after she had called 911, might I add around 15 min later, and they took me in. They stitched me up, and because the gash was so big, i'm gonna have a really nasty big scar to show for my efforts! It's been 4-5 weeks now and I wanted to thank you for your product and your helpful teachings. For all of those to hassle you for the price of this kit, I hope this story one day reaches them and hammers home to them the true value. I didn't save me, Your kit and my daughters help saved me.

Yesterday June 23 2022 I was working on and engine lathe, machine was off while I was changing tooling during this process the wrench slipped and the side of my wrist comes in contact with the sharp edge of the material I was machining. My first instinct was to grab a “clean” paper towel and apply pressure. Second was to assess level of bleeding and if a tourniquet was needed (well within reach if needed) lucky the pressure was more than enough to get a better wound covering and get to a higher level of treatment. 8 stitches later im good to go. I wouldn’t at all count this as a life saved but with the training I received from refuge I felt far more confident in my ability to assess of what was happening and knowing I had the tools close at hand if needed brings some comfort and peace of mind. That evening my wife even said “I'm glad you went and did that training”. In short I appreciate what y’all do.

Hey good morning bro I don’t know how to thank you you won’t believe what happened with me man I work at a moving company I was working three days ago I dropped a 500 pound gun safe sliced my ring finger and middle one plus took out my 2 nails of course broken fingers blood gushing out I had the first aid kit that I got from your show in my book bag it’s good that I was familiar about it because when I got it I opened it and I checked it all so when that happened I used it right away to stop the blood I was working all the way in Pennsylvania and I can’t go to the hospital there because my insurance won’t cover I have to go in New York obviously because I live in Staten Island so I had to drive two hours and a half in traffic with my hand like that if I didn’t have that thing to stop the blood I would’ve been in a different situation plus I add now on it a spray to stop the blood it really saved my life big time thanks again 🙏🙏🙏

I can share how a tourniquet can save your life. This Tue. I stuck a running chain saw 8 inches into my left leg. In short I was air lifted by helicopter to trauma where I was awake while they did emergency surgery on 1 artery and 2 veins. Shalom brother YAH was with me!

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Received my stomp bag and used during a car accident where young lady had open tib-fib that severed artery. So my tourniquet and abd pads used. Hospital and helicopter crew called my boss about the technique and products being of outstanding quality. Thank you for making it happen so smoothly. Equipment was easy to locate, easy to remove, but remained in place until needed.