Trauma and bleeding control

The categories in trauma and bleeding control

The range is divided by what the injury requires. Tourniquets are used for severe bleeding from an arm or leg. Wound packing with gauze and haemostatic dressings belongs where a tourniquet cannot be used — groin, shoulder, neck and torso. Chest seals cover penetrating injuries to the chest. Splints and immobilisation deal with fractures, suspected spinal injury and whatever has to be carried or transported. On top of that there is wound care for what is not life-threatening, and hypothermia protection, because cooling impairs the blood's ability to clot and is a risk in its own right in trauma.

The brands in the range

• North American Rescue — CAT Combat Application Tourniquet Gen 7 in black and orange, HyFin chest seals, suction equipment and blue training versions for instruction.
• SAM Medical — SAM XT Extremity Tourniquet, SAM Chest Seal in vented and non-vented versions, ChitoSAM chitosan dressings, SAM Pelvic Sling II and the full SAM Splint range.
• QuikClot — Combat Gauze with kaolin, plus a blue trainer for practice without using up live stock.
• H&H Medical — SWAT-T, which works both as a tourniquet and as a pressure bandage, and Hyvent vented chest seals.
• Tactical Medical Solutions — Olaes modular bandages in four and six inch, Control Wrap pressure bandages with a bar, and BLAST bandages.
• Faretec, Prometheus Medical, Precision and Vitri — gauze, thoracic dressings, pelvic binders and pressure bandages that round out the range.

Who the equipment is for

• Military and Home Guard putting together personal first aid kits.
• Police, security officers and fire and rescue services with a bleeding control kit on the belt or in the vehicle.
• Workplaces with cutting, machinery or saw hazards — industry, workshops, forestry and agriculture.
• Hunters, shooters and outdoor enthusiasts where the distance to medical care is measured in hours.
• Instructors and trainers who need training equipment in class sets.

How to put a kit together

Start with the bleeding and work outwards. A tourniquet covers arms and legs, haemostatic dressings and pressure bandages deal with injuries that are too close to the torso to be constricted, and a couple of chest seals belong in every kit meant to handle penetrating trauma — buy two, so that both the entry and the exit wound are covered.

Choose equipment that can be used with one hand. CAT Gen 7 and SAM XT are built for that, which is the whole point on the day the injury is on your own arm. Add gloves, sturdy shears and something to keep the casualty warm, and carry the kit in a pouch that can be reached without opening the bag.

The equipment does not replace training. What decides the outcome is that it is on your body, that it can be found in the dark and that the person carrying it has practised with it — which is why the range includes trainer versions of the tourniquet, gauze and chest seal.

If you need help putting together kits for a group or an organisation, send us your list and we will come back with suggestions and a quote.