Matthew Christensen is using his experience to help the community be prepared for emergencies by providing the necessary knowledge and equipment.

Calm in Chaos recently broke ground as a consulting agency focusing on everyday survival, preparation, and medical training. Christensen spent three years in the army before returning to his hometown to join the Marblehead Fire Department. He eventually found himself as the fire department’s emergency services coordinator. As his career progressed, he continued to take specialty courses on various situations, such as self-defense, mass shooting response, and tactical emergency casualty care.
“I’m never stopping learning,” Christensen said.

While Christensen offers an ever-expanding list of courses, Stop the Bleed is at the forefront. Christensen is a certified instructor of the national awareness campaign that trains the public to help in a bleeding emergency, most commonly gunshot wounds, before professional medical assistance arrives.

“The human body can be characterized in three different areas,” Christensen explained. “So each of them needs a different type of procedure to stabilize the hemorrhage on the extremities.”

As the demand for his teachings increased, his wife Laura, along with life-long friend and owner of both Marblehead Movers and First Colony Jiu-Jitsu Liam McGeown, suggested they start a business.

“Literally, people would call him,” McGeown said. “I was like, ‘Matt, we got to just get this going.”

All of Calm in Chaos’s teachings are free of charge. An equally important aspect of the business for Christensen and McGeown is making their “medical pouches” accessible and affordable for their clients. The kits contain high-end certified emergency equipment such as Combat Application Tourniquets, hemostatic-infused gauze, and chest ventilation pads.

“What I noticed is after the class, people would say, ‘Where do I go to get this equipment?’ And unfortunately, a lot of companies make counterfeit tourniquets and stuff that isn’t certified,” Christensen said. “What I’m doing is making a one-stop shop.”

With the company still in its early stages, the website is still a work in progress. However, a priority for Christensen and McGeown is to provide a system that allows their customers to select and customize their medical pouch based on their lifestyle. While instructing people on how to react to undesirable situations, they aim to do so as positively as possible.

“We want to give people direction and an answer,” McGeown said. “We don’t want to prey on paranoia or fear. But these things happen and this is pretty small, inexpensive, and the training is free. So, why not?”