Innovative combat medicine
I have little hope we're going to fundamentally change or flawed foreign policies or develop better policy makers, and while that effort will continue I think we also need to contribute something tangible to our forces who are doing the real work at the tactical level.
In that spirit I Hope to start a series of threads on innovative technology, techniques, tactics and procedures focused primarily at the tactical level. Hopefully interested members (gray beards and young pups alike) will add valuable lessons learnt for combat medicine that will save lives to this thread.
Over time I will open (or please beat me to the punch) other threads that focus on different topics from tactical intelligence to fires.
Post 1: Tourniquet for abdominal wounds is already saving lives
http://www.stripes.com/news/game-cha...lives-1.235791
Quote:
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
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