Sorry for the length of this post, but it might help some of you. I am relatively well trained, well equipped, and fairly knowledgeable about both the law and the vagaries of life that can create emergency moments. Yet despite all of those seeming positives in handling an emergency well, I made a number of mistakes in handling a situation Thursday night that may help someone in a similar situation in the future.My wife and I had both had a really hard day and thought we would recover by having dinner at a local beach club. Since it was a nice, safe area at the beach, and only 20 minutes from our house, I just carried my .380 LCP in my pocket rather than my 9mm AIWB. As we drove towards the beach it started to sprinkle, so we decided to eat outside on the covered patio of a Mexican restaurant we have wanted to try since COVID started. We were seated in the patio close to the sidewalk, and had a nice dinner together, slowly feeling the stress of the day melt away as the result of good food and good conversation. We ordered dessert, and I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. Initially because of his appearance I thought it was a vagrant or panhandler, and honestly wasn’t concerned, just a bit surprised it would happen in such a nice area. I was very surprised when he said “I’ve been shot”. I was a bit dumbfounded, and asked him, “you’ve been shot? Should I call 911?” He said “yes, I’ve been shot in the chest”, at which point I noticed blood on his left hand pooling on the white, brick column next to our table. I immediately dialed 911, and as I stood up he collapsed to the sidewalk. I asked him who shot him, and he replied “I shot myself in the chest”. I directed my wife to get help from the restaurant, and clean bar towels to apply pressure to the wound while I spoke with 911. She did a great job and within seconds we had help for him, including a doctor who was dining in the restaurant. Police, fire, and EMS were on the scene within a few minutes and we were able to turn his care over to professionals who fairly quickly got him on a life flight helicopter.It was an absolutely unexpected and surreal situation. I feel like I did a decent job with aspects of the emergency, but overall would give myself a “D” grade despite the things I did right. This is what I did wrong, and I’m happy to get feedback on what else I may have missed or could have done better. *I am happy that I stayed calm and professional, directed staff about his care, and successfully communicated to 911 to get the help we needed quickly and efficiently. However, while I was asking my wife to get towels to apply pressure, I completely forgot that I carry an oversized bandanna in my back pocket for emergency situations. I put it in my pocket every day as part of my EDC, and when I needed it I completely forgot it! *The sidewalk was fairly well lighted, but he was wearing black clothes and it was a bit hard to see entry and exit wounds. I carry a small flashlight in my pocket every day, and never even thought to use it for better illumination. *When the police arrived they parked at both ends of the parking lot, but didn’t immediately approach us. Initially that seemed strange until I noticed they are all carrying carbines and shotguns. It wasn’t until then that I thought that this was an active shooting scene, and there might be a bad guy with a gun close by that was still a threat. I was so engrossed with talking to 911 and directing people to help that I never even considered or looked for an additional threat! No situational awareness beyond the needs of the shooting victim, thoughtlessly putting my wife and other diners in potential danger from whoever may have shot him!*As the officers and detective interviewed me, I never told them I was armed. Not sure if I should have or not, but normally I would have told them, even if not required to do so. Not sure why I didn’t.As I read other people’s accounts of similar emergencies and their actions I have to admit that I frequently think “I think I would have done better than that” or “I think my training was better and I’d be more aware or react better”...now I know that I am not as well trained or prepared as I thought I was - and all the reading, classes, practice drawing/dry firing does not fully prepare you for an emergency.As an FYI, do not use FMJ rounds for self defense. The bulletin entered his chest an inch or two below his sternum, exited the side of his chest, went thru and thru his left upper arm. He walked a pretty good distance, was fairly functional, and wasn’t bleeding much. All entry/exit wounds were the same size. One shot with an FMJ dead center mass in the 10 ring barely even slowed this guy down for 10-15 minutes!Stay safe out there, and keep learning and practicing! via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3boNoxg
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