Medical emergency experience just occurred to me.

So, everyone here's been mentioning building out and carrying their medical trauma kit, as it's more likely to be used than your firearm.Sorry for the wall of text. I'm still kind of buzzing and writing this has been cathartic for me.Thirty minutes ago I was on the CTA, heading home from work, when a woman runs past my car shouting for the operator to stop the train due to a medical emergency. I hate being a gawker, but after a few minutes, I got up and went towards the small cluster of people at another car.There was a man lying on his side, on the floor. Nobody was doing anything to him, they were all waiting for EMS to arrive. I was expecting it to be one of the more unkempt and unstable members of our society, but this guy was a middle aged man, relatively fit, wearing business casual clothing and an Apple Watch.Years ago, when I learned about the Bystander Effect, I promised myself that I would never fall victim to it, and that I'd always step into action, even if I'm not imminently qualified. I am a lifeguard (expired license) with American Red Cross first aid/ CPR training and have an interest in medicine, guns, etc.. I want to get my EMT license on the side.I stepped into the train car, asked some people if they knew what was going on, but only got useless responses. I turned him on his back, with his head tilted backwards to clear his airway, I wanted to make sure he wasn't swallowing his tongue but I didn't have any gloves and was scared to put my hands in his mouth. I know that PPE and scene safety is extremely important and didn't want to expose myself to possible transmitable pathogens.A random woman stepped in to help me. Again, I'm not a medical professional, so I was leery of making a diagnosis. The man could have been drunk, having a panic attack, or just a weirdo. However, his face, particularly near his ears were blue and rapidly becoming purple. I knew that's a sign of someone not breathing. The woman took his pulse via his neck, and I did too. I thought I felt a very faint pulse which could have been a figment of my imagination.I opened his shirt to prevent constriction, and started looking for those medical bracelets or necklaces that I know some people wear.The woman asked if we should start doing CPR. I said yes but I didn't have a CPR mask! I shouted if anyone had a mask, and got up running up to a few people asking if they had a mask or gloves. Nobody did. I was cursing myself at this point for not having any equipment with me. The woman who was helping me said she might have a mask in her bag. I tore it open and rifled through it rapidly. I noticed my hands trembling due to the adrenaline, although I was pretty calm otherwise. I was able to function perfectly normally even with the adrenaline coursing through my veins. She didn't have a mask and I didn't know what more I could do.She asked about chest compressions, I was going to displace her so I could start them but didn't want to waste time and she seemed like she knew what she was doing, so I told her to start. She did. I knew the man needed air, as his face was extremely blue, but I wasn't going to do rescue breaths without a mask. I was thinking of intubating him, but I don't know how, had no tube, and knew that I'd probably get in major trouble with the authorities if I tried.Since I couldn't think of something to do, and we were waiting for the paramedics, I reasoned that I should help to get EMS on location more quickly. I pointed at a person in the crowd (again, trying to prevent Bystander Apathy) and commanded them to go find EMS and direct them here, since I know that often EMS wastes time trying to find the scene.I then tried giving him rescue breaths. I reasoned that although I don't have a mask, I could use my hands to create a barrier and it might create a decent seal. I tried that and heard some of the air come out of his noise when I heard his snot bubble. He gave a massive gasp, which I thought meant he was breathing again, but now, much later, am realizing that it was agonal breathing.I tried pinching his nose shut with one hand but that broke the (pretty decent) seal I had on his mouth. I commanded another person from the crowd to jump over and grab his nose. She did. I got two full breaths in him before the paramedics arrived. Although I don't know if the breaths really worked I noticed that his facial color had markedly improved to a more normal skin tinge.EMS took over and the woman and I gave as much background as we could, although we weren't there for the start of the incident. They gave him chest compressions, hooked up an IV, and intubated him. They hooked up a defibrillator but it said that it detected motion from the body and recommended against applying a shock. The EMTs thought it was possible the motion came from the train but they didn't shock him anyway.They worked on him for about twenty minutes with no response, then put him on a stretcher and carried him off, while still doing compressions.That's all. The next train came and I went to my orthodontist appointment.The reason I made this post here is to say that I will now be carrying medical equipment with me. I've never really had this experience before, and always questioned the important of being such a wannabe operator by carrying medical equipment. From now on, I will carry a small kit withGlovesCPR maskIsraeli BandageTourniquetDoes anyone know of a good, small, cheap bag I can throw it all into and carry in my backpack? via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/2KiYYO7