06/05/2026
🌲 If someone is impaled on the trail, your first instinct will almost certainly kill them.
I’ve seen it in the ER. Someone gets impaled by a branch, a fence post, a piece of metal. The bystanders panic and pull it out.
That is the wrong call. Every time.
Here’s what an ER Doc needs you to know:
The impaled object is acting as a plug. It is physically holding back catastrophic internal bleeding. The moment you remove it, that bleeding becomes uncontrollable in the field.
Leave it in. Stabilize it. Evacuate.
Here’s how:
1. Pack gauze tightly around the base. Build a thick collar of padding on all sides of the object at skin level.
2. Place rolled bandages on either side to form a supportive structure — like a log cabin around the object. This prevents it from rocking or shifting.
3. Wrap medical tape firmly over the entire structure. The object must be completely immobilized. Any movement causes more internal damage.
Then get them out. This is a surgical emergency — your job in the field is to keep them alive until the OR.
This is the kind of knowledge that doesn’t make it onto a first aid card. We built PrepEM Wild so you’d already have it.
👇 Link in bio. Get your IFAK before your next trip.
Did you know not to pull it out? Drop a ✅ or ❌ in the comments — be honest 👇
đź”´ IFAKs built by ER Docs
đź”´ Real knowledge. Real gear. Get home alive.
