What Should You Do After You Receive Your Permit? – Learn Basic First Aid

Non-shooting skills:  Wait, I thought we were talking about guns?

Concealed carry is not limited to shooting.  There are many skill sets a responsibly armed individual should seek to learn that are every bit as important, and many can be used more often than a pistol.

First aid and CPR are two of the most useful and lifesaving skills a person can learn.  There are many times outside of the defensive realm these can be important.  Discovering a coworker who is having a heart attack, witnessing an automobile crash or seeing one’s child fall down a flight of stairs, all of these are examples of a situation where having some basic training in first aid or CPR can be crucial while waiting for first-responders to arrive.

Another example becoming increasingly visible in the public consciousness, which requires a skilled and prepared individual, is the active killer event.  Mass shootings, mass stabbings and terrorist events are an unfortunate reality of our world today.  While a pistol would serve you well in the initial moments of the attack to defend yourself and others, what to do once the shooting stops is of paramount importance.  Do you carry and know how to use a tourniquet? Can you help a victim keep calm and apply pressure to stop the bleeding from a wound?  Do you have the skills to quickly assess basic injuries?

The point here is, pistol skills are not the only lifesaving skills you need to be prepared for.  A great first step would be to call your local firehouse and talk with first responders about what educational resources there are in your area.  Talk to your concealed carry instructor, they also will have an idea where to seek guidance.  Vendors like Dark Angel Medical have brought back lessons learned from battlefields overseas and applied them to civilian and law enforcement kits that are small enough to carry around in a pocket.  Get trained.  This could save the life of yourself or a loved one.