Prepared Brief: Citizen Trauma Care

The First Five Minutes

When the shooting stops, the blast fades, or the crash settles, one thing remains…help isn’t coming fast enough.

Across the U.S., EMS average response times hover around 8–14 minutes.

In a mass-casualty event or rural setting, that number stretches far longer. The first five minutes belong to the people already on scene.

Those five minutes are the real golden hour. And in them, the only thing separating life and death is someone who knows what to do.

This brief breaks down a modern civilian trauma framework…a practical system for treating the wounded under duress.

It draws from tactical medicine but translates it for the Prepared Citizen.