30.07.22 IFAKs and Some Morale.

One of the most important things for a soldier is his individual first aid kit (IFAK). It's the thing that will save his life should his armor (and luck) fail. A small unit was in dire need of them and it just so happened that luck was on our side for this one.

The request came in on a Tuesday, moments after I learned that someone I know will be going to Ukraine that Saturday. It just so happened that they were willing to take a package with them. That left us three days to get all the components and completely assemble 10 IFAKs... So I got to ordering.

Of course, North American Rescue was still out of all gauze and Emergency Trauma Dressings (ETDs) on their website, so I called hoping for luck. It just so happened that there was barely enough in stock, so I got 10 of everything, plus expedited shipping. Now on to checking my inventory at home to see how many additional medical supplies I need. Once again, it just so happened that materials I still needed to order were available with two-day delivery at Amazon. Everything else was a local pick-up at Walmart and Staples (of all places).

It just so happened that it all arrived on time-- even the IFAK pouches that came in over a span of three weeks last time. By Friday morning we were ready to pack. Unfortunately, there's work and other life events, so I wasn't able to get started until midnight, and didn't get done until 3am. Three hours later I was up again to update and print the packing lists that go into each bag.

This time we included a little morale treat: instant coffee and Nuun tablets! I remember how wonderful things other than water tasted when I was overseas, and especially wonderful was any coffee not out of an MRE. Especially in tough times morale boosts like this can be the highlight of the day.

Four hours after that the packages were on their way! With them went three 33,800mAh portable chargers and three multitools. This was by far the smoothest and luckiest aid shipment I have done to date. "It just so happened" is a darn good motto; one can only hope it continues this way.

Stay tuned for an exact breakdown of what is in each IFAK and why I format it the way I do!