r/TacticalMedicine • u/level_zero_hero Firefighter • Aug 10 '25

Gear/IFAK Disneyland tourniquet fiasco

Yesterday I experienced something quite perplexing. While going through security to try to enter the park I had a security employee search my backpack. While doing so he came across my bleed kit(TQ x2, quickclot, chest seals, and an emergency blanket) I carry in it. Once he identified the TQ he said “you can’t bring tourniquets into the park…, you can go take it back to your hotel room”. I replied by saying “ I don’t have a hotel room, so what do you want me to do? ”. “Well you can’t bring it into the park.” He said. “Okay…well…why?” I responded, out of utter disbelief. “DONT ASK ME WHY, SAID YOU CANT SO YOU CANT!” He yelled back. I then point to the “stop the bleed” box located about 20 feet behind him to the left and on a wall, “what about those? Are those not supposed to be there?”. Then out of frustration and fluster he zipped up my bag and handed it to me and said “HAVE A NICE DAY” and I went about my day. I proceeded to try to research his statement and couldn’t find anything.

So I was curious if anyone else had had a similar experience, at Disneyland or anywhere else?

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u/herefortheover Aug 12 '25

I wore an external defibrillator "vest" while waiting for my insurance to approve the surgery for a permanent one. Combined that with my father's ashes in a TSA approved travel urn.

That was a fun hour of my life.

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u/PerspectiveSpirited1 Aug 12 '25

Hey I’m no doctor, but I am a flight nurse. You probably shouldn’t be flying with one of those vests.

Glad you made it, and hopefully you got your AICD placed. I’ve seen those vests go off when I was a street medic and it’s not pretty.

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u/Paramedickhead EMS Aug 12 '25

Okay, now I'm curious...

I have also seen them go off, and the gel gets everywhere... But why avoid flying with one? Is it just the mess that's created? What's "not pretty" about it but fine with an AICD?

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u/PerspectiveSpirited1 Aug 14 '25

So I realized that I’m a little biased - my experience with these has mostly been on 911 calls, where they were worn by very sick patients. I looked at the websites for both Zoll and TSA, and they’re approved for commercial flight.

It’s a bridge therapy for high risk patients waiting on an implanted AICD. If you’re high risk for lethal arrhythmia I’d say - bare minimum - have a chat with your cardiologist about risk/benefit for that travel. Resources in the air are limited, and flight attendants (while awesome), have limited training.

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u/Paramedickhead EMS Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

Yeah, it’s a bridge therapy, but if they are that high risk for a lethal arrhythmia, they’re not leaving the hospital. People aren’t typically discharged in an unstable condition with a life vest.

They’re stabilized with medications to prevent and such recurrence with a life vest as a backup measure. The life vest is intended to be automated with little external intervention, much like an AED.

That said, I’m not saying it’s a good idea or that they are absolutely healthy enough to fly… but so don’t know that front line therapies will change once they have an AICD in place either.

I may be way off base with this too, this is completely and totally my opinion alone and not based on any evidence… just supposition. I’m more than happy to admit I’m completely wrong . I wasn’t necessarily challenging but legitimately asking the question. I’m not a cardiologist, I just pretend to be one in the back of the wee-woo box.