Reality Check on Modern Wound/Trauma First Aid Materials

Note to the reader: We have been keeping clear of advanced first aid and materials subjects for a variety of reasons. But a video we have come by recently has sparkled this article and the considerations that come with it.

For the past decade or more we have been seeing an influx of First Aid materials for trauma management. New tourniquets, new haemostatic agents (the notorious QuikClot amongst them), nasopharyngeal airways, chest seals and novel guidelines for their use.

While these are aimed primarily to the military end user, they are starting to see use in the civilian sector too, following the slow shift in their application dogma.

And they do work and they do save lives. During the second Iraq war the US measured a  95% survivability rate on bleeding.

But panacea they aren’t. Their effective use requires following the guidelines and protocols for their use.

In example, a damaged femoral artery requires a lot of pressure exerted, and not only superficially. Pressure has got to be driven down inside the leg.

This video showsa case of.

The guy is putting his knee and weight on his buddy’s leg and watch carefully what the 1si Aid responder does in min. 4:24.

And while one could argue that quiclot would be a better option it still has to be driven in contact with the bleeding site.

The process is called wound packing, and latest research result show that packing is more important than the hemostatic capability of such products.

And it is still advised with quiclot use.

So, imagine a foolish consumer that opens his trauma kit puts his quiclot on (and not In) the wound and proceeds to bandage the leg with his Israeli Dressings.

Knowledge to operate IS required.

The points we want to make are that the modern trauma materials fill a niche space among first aid materials, false confidence in their often advertised and hyped miracle abilities can become dangerous, and proper care procedures and skills cannot easily be replaced by materials alone.