W
wildcard
RIP Brian
Tourniquets and Quick clot, the myths.
There are so may people that feel they should carry these things in an IFK. I’m here to set the record strait. These things are bad and seldom needed and even more rarely used properly.
Quick clot does so much damage and has such poor outcome that the military’s official version of use for Quick clot is “only if a tourniquet fails. It cause’s caustic burns and even more pain. It has to be dug back out of the wound and cleaned in the ER and an alarming number of people that have had it used have then suffered from a stroke or heart attack as it causes clots to form in the blood stream and clog arteries. It’s bad nasty stuff in the hands of train professionals and worse in the hands of lay people. Throw it away!
Tourniquets, I will forever curse the boy scouts for promoting them for so long. They are bad, rarely needed and never applied properly causing more damage. Anything short of a total amputation does not need a tourniquet! Even then the body coping mechanisms fix the problem. As an artery is severed it withdraws into the limb and clamps down slowing the blood flow until the clotting mechanisms start working which take up to three minutes. If they are not tight enough they simply stop the venous return causing more bleeding. If they are tight enough the tissue 2 -4 inches above the tourniquet will have to be amputated also. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have walked up on a scene and some bystander has wrapped a belt around a leg with a minor laceration. They are always astonished when I remove it and the bleeding stops. I have never ever seen a tourniquet applied by a lay person done right or even in the right situation.
Bleeding is stopped in three ways. Remember this from your FA class? Direct pressure, elevation and pressure points. That’s all you will ever need. It will stop. Your goal is to SLOW the bleeding until it clots off on its own. Don’t get excited if it takes a few minutes to stop completely. As long as it’s slowed and you continue to maintain direct pressure, elevation and pressure points, even the worst normal injuries will respond. Also remember that pressure points are only used if the first two fail.
Unless a leg is blown off by a mine or chainsaw, DON’T PUT A TOURNIQUET ON IT!
I have been involved with EMS since 1979, paramedic since 1985, ten years in the knife and gun clubs of California and two trips to Iraq. I know of which I speak.
I will step down from my soap box now...
There are so may people that feel they should carry these things in an IFK. I’m here to set the record strait. These things are bad and seldom needed and even more rarely used properly.
Quick clot does so much damage and has such poor outcome that the military’s official version of use for Quick clot is “only if a tourniquet fails. It cause’s caustic burns and even more pain. It has to be dug back out of the wound and cleaned in the ER and an alarming number of people that have had it used have then suffered from a stroke or heart attack as it causes clots to form in the blood stream and clog arteries. It’s bad nasty stuff in the hands of train professionals and worse in the hands of lay people. Throw it away!
Tourniquets, I will forever curse the boy scouts for promoting them for so long. They are bad, rarely needed and never applied properly causing more damage. Anything short of a total amputation does not need a tourniquet! Even then the body coping mechanisms fix the problem. As an artery is severed it withdraws into the limb and clamps down slowing the blood flow until the clotting mechanisms start working which take up to three minutes. If they are not tight enough they simply stop the venous return causing more bleeding. If they are tight enough the tissue 2 -4 inches above the tourniquet will have to be amputated also. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have walked up on a scene and some bystander has wrapped a belt around a leg with a minor laceration. They are always astonished when I remove it and the bleeding stops. I have never ever seen a tourniquet applied by a lay person done right or even in the right situation.
Bleeding is stopped in three ways. Remember this from your FA class? Direct pressure, elevation and pressure points. That’s all you will ever need. It will stop. Your goal is to SLOW the bleeding until it clots off on its own. Don’t get excited if it takes a few minutes to stop completely. As long as it’s slowed and you continue to maintain direct pressure, elevation and pressure points, even the worst normal injuries will respond. Also remember that pressure points are only used if the first two fail.
Unless a leg is blown off by a mine or chainsaw, DON’T PUT A TOURNIQUET ON IT!
I have been involved with EMS since 1979, paramedic since 1985, ten years in the knife and gun clubs of California and two trips to Iraq. I know of which I speak.
I will step down from my soap box now...
