THE CONCEPT

 

The IFAK is carried by every individual in the group, usually as part of his Load-Bearing Equipment (LBE) or tactical belt. It is meant to be used on the person carrying the IFAK himself, not to treat others with it.
 

Example 1: (incorrect)
A person gets shot and the person treating the victim uses his own IFAK to treat the patient. A second person gets injured, the person treating is out of supplies and the patient is likely to die. Also, there are no supplies left to treat the provider once he gets injured.

Example 2: (correct)
A person gets shot and the person treating the victim uses the patient's IFAK to treat him. A second person gets injured, and the care provider uses the supplies from the second patient on the second patient himself. All personnel is appropriately treated and the provider has completely unused supplies to be treated with once he is injured himself.
 

It is important that IFAKs are standardized across the whole unit or organization, so every IFAK is equipped with the same materials and clearly marked on the patient's body, so a care provider does not have to search for the equipment under stress. 

It is recommended to carry IFAKs in a common location on the kit as well, for example, the posterior part of the left Cummerbund of a plate carrier, the right side of a chest rig, or the 6 o'clock position of a belt.

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SETUP OPTIONS

 

BELT MOUNTED

A common location for carrying IFAKs is the belt. Horizontal IFAK pouches can be comfortably mounted in the 6-o'clock position and accessed with both hands. This is especially applicable to Law Enforcement and Military personnel who use padded belts for their daily duties.
 

PLATE CARRIER / LBE MOUNTED

Frequently used in a Military context, mounting a plate carrier on Body Armor or a Chest Rig offers the advantage of having more real estate for larger pouches. Also, the person providing treatment can easily access the kit for treatment (buddy aid).

WAIST PACK

A waist pack is a proven method to carry medical equipment comfortably, both on the battlefield and as a daily carry solution. It offers mobility and customization options that most pouches simply can not provide. Also, a fanny pack can be carried in the 6 o'clock position when not in use and rotated around the torso to the front for treatment or when entering vehicles, aircraft, or sitting down in a chair.

ANKLE MOUNTED

A carrying method that has been gaining popularity recently is the ankle carry. This allows for carrying medical essentials in a discrete way around the ankle. However, this method drastically limits carrying capacity and may influence the mobility of the wearer.

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DUAL-PHASE IFAK APPROACH

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During the Global War on Terror, multiple approaches to IFAKs have evolved. One of the more successful evolutions of the standard IFAK is the Dual-Phase IFAK approach that includes two separate pouches for the IFAK supplies. One pouch is meant to be used by the individual on himself (self-aid) and the other pouch is meant to be used as a classic IFAK would be used, in a buddy-aid capacity.

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The primary benefit of this kind of setup is that the individual has all necessary and applicable supplies immediately available and does not have to dig through items that cannot be used on oneself, such as Decompression Needles and similar items. Also, the provider that will later treat the casualty will have an unused kit will all items available, that has not been used up by the casualty already. 

Additionally, splitting the kit up will result in a very small and compact self-aid kit, that can be stored in an easily accessible location (For example on the 2 o'clock position on the tactical belt or the LBE), while the large and bulky buddy-aid IFAK can be stored in a less accessible location such as the side or back of the LBE.

Further, this increases the total amount of medical supplies that are available to the team medic. This will be further discussed in the Medic Bag article.

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