Jonathon Aldridge Talks EDC, TacMed, Training, and MORE!

After having the pleasure of taking a class that Jonathon Aldridge put on through Iron Forge Consulting Group, I wanted to pick his brain a little more and dive deeper into his thought process on several topics and figured others could also benefit from what he has to say. Therefore, our interview is below for your educational enjoyment. If it brought you value or feel it’s worthy, please pass it along to friends who are also interested in this topic or who could take something away from our interview. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: It is recommended that you seek out professional medical training. You should know how to use what you carry. These are skills that can help save lives. You are your own first responder and the protector of your family. I highly recommend you seek out training through someone like Jonathon Aldridge of Iron Forge Consulting Group before attempting to go hands-on in an emergency (things aren’t as simply as they seem on television and in the movies). Get training!

1. Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Jonathon Aldridge: I am the Founder, Owner, and Director of Training for Iron Forge Consulting Group and have worked in various capacities of Public Safety for over a decade.

I currently work for several municipal 911 agencies as a FireFighter-EMT. I’ve been a member of a Tactical EMS Unit attached to the local Sheriff’s Office Emergency Response Team (SWAT) since late 2011. Our team provides care and support in a tactical environment to both law enforcement officers and citizens of the community alike.

I also have been involved in Martial Arts since 2004 and have attained a 1st-degree black belt/full instructor certification in American Freestyle Karate as a student of American Freestyle Martial Arts Academy in Covington, Virginia, under the tutelage of instructor Clay Johnson. Other Martial Arts I’ve trained in include Thai Boxing, Filipino Martial Arts, Russian Systema, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I became involved in firearms training in 2014 and have trained as a student all across the country with several trainers, including Garry Marr of Tremis Dynamics, Zach Bush of Definitive Training Solutions, Dave Biggers of The Dave Biggers Experience, John Farnam of Defense Training International, Don Numbers of Numbers Defensive Services, and Pat Goodale of Practical Firearms Training.

I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work, train, and teach in all the aforementioned capacities, and the culmination of those experiences has been instrumental in how I view personal safety and preparedness.

Above all, I am always a student and strive to maintain that mindset in everything I do.

2. Can you explain what Iron Forge Consulting Group is and what you do?

Jonathon Aldridge: Iron Forge Consulting Group is my venture to build a more efficient and realistic training experience for students in the realm of personal safety and preparedness, with our flagship curriculums being focused on the subject of Tactical Medicine.

Related Article: Are Chest Seals Truly Necessary in Trauma Kits?

By employing a team of competent, experienced instructors and tailoring our courses to mimic real-world stressors as closely as can be recreated in a training environment, I believe we are able to offer our students a unique training experience. We also provide training in Firearms, Combatives, and Mental Health Crisis Response.

We began this journey in late 2017 when a teammate and I noticed some serious deficiencies in the tactical medical training provided to public safety responders and responsible citizens. From that point forward, we took the necessary steps to develop relevant curriculums and establish our brand.

Related Article: SAVE A LIFE — Medical Training w/ Iron Forge Consulting Group

Since then, we’ve been growing our course offerings and refining the experiences we provide our students. Sure, this is a business, and it has to generate revenue as a means of growth, but ultimately my goal is to use IFCG to spread knowledge and skills that help keep people alive.

3. Why is it important for people to get medical training?

Jonathon Aldridge: According to the CDC, 8.4% of deaths in the United States are related to external causes, which are comprised of unintentional injuries, accidents (e.g., drowning, falls, traffic accidents), homicide, suicide, and other various etiologies.

That equates to just below 300,000 deaths each year, many of them due to preventable causes. To me, that’s all the evidence I need to make being prepared to handle medical emergencies a priority, and it’s why our company offers the training we do.

On a personal note, I have been in a position where I wasn’t prepared for an emergency situation. It’s a horrible feeling not to be able to help someone when an emergency occurs and one that I would rather not experience again if I can help it. It’s not wanting to repeat those mistakes from the past that drives me to keep pushing forward to become more prepared and to help others be more prepared.

4. What does “prepared” mean to you and how does this play into your life?

Jonathon Aldridge: To me, being prepared starts with being honest with one’s self when answering a single question. “Am I capable of handling an emergency when it occurs?” That emergency could be anything, a car crash, a house fire, a cardiac arrest, an overdose, an allergic reaction, a violent confrontation/Active Threat Attack, etc.

If the answer to that question is anything but “yes, I can competently handle X, based on my training and experience,” then a person has some work to do, starting with seeking out high-quality training regarding whatever emergency scenario that is in question.

The sad part is most people don’t ever consider these types of things until tragedy strikes in their life, either personally or on the periphery, with someone they know. Once they do see the importance of being prepared, though, they can start to upgrade their mental software. Each training they take in the various subjects (Medical, Firearms, Combatives, Mental Health) allows them to begin building an Immediate Responder Mindset. They can then become part of the solution and not part of the problem when an emergency occurs.

Related Article: Should You Carry a CAT Tourniquet as Part of Your EDC?

For me, I’m still putting all those pieces together, but with each year that passes, I grow my body of knowledge and my capabilities to respond to emergencies. It’s truly been a lifelong process that I intend to continue as long as I’m capable.

5. Being prepared means carrying certain gear. What does your EDC look like?

Jonathon Aldridge: My everyday carry stays pretty consistent across the board, but there are moments when I have to enter secured locations related to my profession. This means that I am limited as to my carrying of defensive implements. I mention this because there are some people in the tactical/self-defense/gun space that say if they can’t carry a weapon somewhere, they just won’t go there, but the reality is that’s not typically an option for most folks. That’s why my mindset prioritizes Software above Hardware.

Overall, I’m a gear guy, though, and I love checking out things that are going to give me an edge on protecting myself and saving a life during an emergency. My requirement for any gear that I carry is that it must be proven Rugged and Reliable above all else.

At a minimum, I daily carry:

• A Wallet
• Keys
• A Charged Mobile Phone
• Wrist Watch (Currently a Seiko SKX009)
• Flashlight (Streamlight Strion)
• Tourniquet (CAT Gen7 or SOFT-W)
• Pen (Either a Pilot G2 Mini or a Zebra F402)
• Bandana

If I’m capable of carrying other tools or defensive implements, I carry the following:

• Leatherman Multitool in a Not Too Pretty Leather Works Leather Sheath (Leatherman Sidekick)
• Folding Knife (CRKT Heiho)
• Handgun in a Kydex Holster w/ Soft Loops (Either a Glock 19 or a Sig P365)
• Spare Magazine in a Not Too Pretty Leather Works Magazine Pouch w/ Soft Loops (Glock or Sig Factory Magazines)
• All Supported by a Ciguera Gear Company Emissary EDC Belt

Related Article: Is the Sig Sauer P365X the Best Concealed Carry Firearm?

6. Being a professional in the tactical medicine arena, what should everyone have on their person?

Jonathon Aldridge: At the bare minimum, a person should carry a Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care Recommended Tourniquet.

Since Uncontrolled Extremity Hemorrhage is the #1 preventable cause of death in a tactical emergency, I believe if you’re going to carry one piece of medical equipment, it should be a Tourniquet.

Research has shown that properly applied commercially produced CoTCCC Recommended Tourniquets are well over 90% effective in controlling arterial bleeding from an extremity (arm or leg). While in comparison, an improvised tourniquet doesn’t come anywhere close to that level of effectiveness in controlling bleeding and has a 40% failure rate.

All things considered, between size, weight, and cost, a CoTCCC Recommended Tourniquet is the most likely item to help you save a life during an emergency where there is a traumatic injury.

Related Article: Snakestaff Systems ETQ: A Tourniquet You’ll Actually Carry?

There’s also something to be said for having a means by which to communicate with a 911 Dispatch Center to get additional resources to respond to an emergency. That Charged Mobile Phone is invaluable in this regard.

Other than that, a good individual first aid kit/trauma kit would be the next suggestion. We’ve made a video about this subject on our YouTube page, so if folks want to see how we set ours up, they can head on over there and check it out.

7. What would you say to the people who think someone is coming to save them?

Jonathon Aldridge: Simply that…

No One is Coming to Save You!

I see it every day in my professional life as a First Responder. Oftentimes, the result of a life-threatening emergency has already transpired by the time an ambulance is dispatched, responds, and finally gets to the victim. It’s the people on scene who are trained and willing to act that truly save lives. That’s why we push this concept of the Immediate Responder and implore people to take responsibility for themselves, their families, and their communities regarding their level of preparedness.

If the person reading this still isn’t convinced, I can promise them that it’s just a matter of “When” an emergency will happen in their life and not a matter of “If” an emergency will happen.

8. The bulk of my content revolves around health and fitness. What does it mean to you, how are you working on it, and how important is it for the tactical and prepared community?

Jonathon Aldridge: Being physically fit and healthy in my lifestyle plays directly into my ability to be prepared to handle emergencies. I like to use flexibility training, combatives training, and my outdoor hobbies like hunting & fishing to stay active.

Professionally, I owe it to the members of the communities I serve as a First Responder to be capable of appropriately responding to their emergency when they call. It’s literally my job to maintain a level of strength and physical fitness, and while that may not be true for everyone, I would encourage those reading this to look at it this way. They have a responsibility to be healthy and strong so they can be prepared to handle any emergencies they or their friends/family might have.

I’m not perfect, but I see a lot of people every day at work whose health is dwindling away because of lifestyle choices they’ve made, either through inactivity, diet, or substance use, it negatively affects them, and it negatively affects their families. It doesn’t have to be that way, though, and just by getting involved in some type of physical activity, someone can start to build a healthful lifestyle.

My future goals are to start to incorporate more strength-focused training into my weekly routines and to attain my blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by the end of 2024. 

9. What’s next for you? What are you working on and towards?

Jonathon Aldridge: Paramedic School has been my predominant focus for 2023 and will remain so until that process is finished. It’s challenging but rewarding as well and will allow me to provide even more capabilities to my community and to my students.

As far as Iron Forge Consulting Group goes, we scaled back our offerings for 2023 but plan to teach more courses in 2024 than we ever have. We’re looking to return to several locations, including Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and of course, our home state of Virginia. We also intend to add Texas, Wyoming, Montana, and Indiana to the list of places we’re teaching courses. Everyone keep on the lookout for courses scheduled in all those locations for 2024.

10. Where can people stay up to date with you and Iron Forge Consulting Group?

Jonathon Aldridge: The best way people can stay apprised of what Iron Forge Consulting Group is doing is through our Instagram page. That’s the place where we engage the most with our supporters and post information.

We also post educational content on our YouTube Page and already have numerous videos uploaded regarding various subjects.

Related Article: Bulletn: Connecting Students with Firearms Trainers

If someone wants to come train with us, we exclusively use Bulletn.net to list all our training opportunities. A person can either put their zip code in to see if we’re offering training near them, or they can go directly to our Bulletn Profile and see all the courses we have scheduled.

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