Posted on 09/04/2013 5:12:16 PM PDT by neverdem
Some special operations medics in Afghanistan now have a new device that helps save soldiers with the most common cause of preventable death in combat: a traumatic pelvic wound.
Unlike a hemorrhage in the arm or leg where a tourniquet can be used to shut off bleeding, there was no way until recently to do the same for wounds in the lower torso, which can kill a person in a matter of minutes.
It was “a noted capability gap on the battlefield: How do we treat bleeding where we can’t use tourniquets?” said John Croushorn, a former Army doctor.
After serving as a flight surgeon in Iraq, Croushorn and former combat medic Richard Schwartz devised an inflatable tourniquet that buckles around a victim’s abdomen, and when pumped with air becomes a wedge shape that puts about 80 pounds of pressure on the abdominal aorta, cutting off blood flow to the pelvis. Ted Westmoreland, a former medic with U.S. Army Special Operations, then helped devise the windlass that twists to tighten the device so it stays in place.
One person with minimal training can have it out of the bag and applied in about 60 seconds, and it doesn’t need to be done by a medic, Croushorn said, because the device doesn’t require precise positioning.
In 2007, they applied for a patent, which is pending, and the FDA approved the Abdominal Aortic Tourniquet in 2011.
Junctional tourniquets like the AAT started hitting the market in recent years. Despite that short period of time, the scientific research backing up its use is “reasonably well established to date,” according to retired Col. John Kragh, of the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research. “The AAT in particular has a good scientific foundation. The very limited use in care is due to the fact that...”...
(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...
So who was the FReeper who had his pelvis removed? I remember he posted an x-ray image...
You posted a good amazon link for this sort of stuff in some thread I was reading. Just making sure you’ve read about this particular one.
This one is a new one. The Abdominal artery is large and if that is cut, it’s death really soon, not many minutes at all. The new one I spoke of and gave where to get it, cuts/slows down arterial blood in arms/thighs.
The thigh one is also large but not like the abdominal one. A person cannot apply enough pressure to stop an arterial blood bleed. It takes the one I described for limbs that is available on Amazon or this new abdominal one.
This new one is terrific for our military guys and for regular citizens in car wrecks or other accidents that rip the abdominal artery.
Thanks for pinging me to this thread.
Kinda teary-eyed — wonder if this would have saved the life of one our boys from church who was killed in Afghanistan several years ago. He was a great kid from a great family, and recently married, when he encountered an IED.
bump for later
A person cannot apply enough pressure to stop an arterial blood bleed.
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