(Firstly get the training. Practice, experience and skills are more important than gear)
I keep pushing tourniquets for remote wilderness use, that’s because we are so far behind in this country when it comes to training. Always carry a tourniquet, pressure bandages and S rolled gauze for junction packing in order to stop serious bleeds..
I have worked around situations where crush injuries from heavy vehicles , car accidents and chainsaw accidents were common occurrences ,when people thought they were adequately trained and the right equipment and training was never prevalent at the time.
8 tips on applying a tourniquet
1. Tourniquets are placed at least 5cm above the wound
2. Never place a tourniquet on a joint
3. Ideally, the tourniquet should be placed directly on the skin if the situation/environment allows it.
4. You can place tourniquets on lower limbs (ie two bones)
5. If one tourniquet isn’t effective, place a second tourniquet flush against the first tourniquet, but with the windless offset, so you are able to tighten
6. Tourniquets should be horizontal to the limb
7. When applying a tourniquet to a male casualty’s upper thigh, ensure the genitals don’t get caught
8. Re-check effectiveness regularly and after every casualty move
by Tacmed Australia
Stop the Bleed full course
Junctional Wound Packing
Tourniquet Application
Staging a Tourniquet
Pressure Bandages
RATS Tourniquet
SWAT T
CAT and SOF T
(RTACC) Rescue Trauma and Casualty Care course by Tacmed Australia
TacMed Training (RTACC)
Course Content:
Safety
Scene Management
Enhanced kinematics and mechanism of injury
Catastrophic bleed management using stepwise approach – Wound Packing, Hemostatics, Tourniquets and Junctional Bleed Management
Airway assessment with enhanced management – adjuncts & supraglottic devices
Spinal assessment, management and immobilisation
Safe and effective Oxygen usage
Respiratory assessment and management
Recognition of Thorax trauma and complications
Abdominal assessment
Circulatory assessment, management, shock
Head injury & disability assessment
Effects of environment and exposure
Cardiac arrest – pit crew resuscitation
Paediatric BLS
Paediatric Anatomy, normal physiology & common medical emergencies
Care of common medical conditions i.e. stroke, diabetes
Care or medical emergencies
Thermal injury with ability to assess severity
Musculoskeletal injury with use of analgesia & fracture reduction
Drowning and immersion
Excitation delirium and overdose
Mass casualty management
Triage
Major civilian disasters
Bombs, blasts, blades and ballistics
CBRNE
Transfer of the critically ill patient
The point of view of your article has taught me a lot, and I already know how to improve the paper on gate.oi, thank you.