'There is a sort of mysticism associated with the medical bag that health care professionals carry with them. It  could be the old leather bag that a doctor uses when he or she makes house calls, or it could be the latest in cloth technology made out of new fabric or material. Either way it is a medical bag. A medic is joined at the hip with his or her medic aid bag, and rightfully so. Without this bag, medics would not be able to perform the miracles they do. It can be looked at as a tool kit for the human body (and other creatures that come along the way such as dogs, cats, and livestock). There is a special kind of magic in the medical bag. It is a bag of healing and a bag of hope.

I write about several of the medic bags that I have used in my career in the book My Journey as a Combat Medic. There will always be my favorite, which is the M5 medic bag. 

m5 medic bag (2)

It is nothing more than a clothed, rugged bag with zippers and buttons to store my healing supplies in it. It makes the medic pack just the right amount of supplies because it is not too big like a rucksack is, and it is not too small. It is just right.

Regardless of what mission I would go on, I would always bring the M5 bag with me. I felt that I was not a real medic without it. I would always bring other medical bags with me also, even medical chests with supplies, but I would not dare leave on a mission without the M5.'

My Journey as a Combat Medic is available now as an eBook. For more information about Patrick's journey as an author, read his blog.