The RMT and why you should carry a tourniquet

[SAXDM9]

Thanks @voodoo_man , I’ll sure look into it when I have some bandwidth. My mobile WiFi is really slow, don’t do so much video. But I want to see this. Appreciate it.

[BCC73]

I gotta get with the program....way behind on this one. Thanks for posting......

[DownInTheDark]

I won't carry one on or off duty. We didn't need them 22 years ago when I was trained in first aid. It was actually discouraged.

Just another passing fad.

[Havok]

I won't carry one on or off duty. We didn't need them 22 years ago when I was trained in first aid. It was actually discouraged.

Just another passing fad.

Im guessing this is just missing the sarcasm font, right?

[DownInTheDark]

Im guessing this is just missing the sarcasm font, right?

nope

[Havok]

nope

So you really dont think tourniquets are valuable?

[DownInTheDark]

So you really dont think tourniquets are valuable?

The last I heard 14 years ago volunteering for a fire department they were still saying not to use them. Until I hear otherwise through training from the county medical director there is plenty of other gear I put more value on.

I am not trying to pick a fight or be difficult but this reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when they said eggs were bad for you. Now they are not. Opinions and practices are sure to change.

[Havok]

The last I heard 14 years ago volunteering for a fire department they were still saying not to use them. Until I hear otherwise through training from the county medical director there is plenty of other gear I put more value on.

I am not trying to pick a fight or be difficult but this reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when they said eggs were bad for you. Now they are not. Opinions and practices are sure to change.

Im not sure where you volunteered at, but I'd really love to hear the argument against them. I have personally seen them work. I highly doubt you will find a trauma class that doesnt teach to use tourniquets. They are part of the NREMT curriculum , and carried by most EMS, fire, and military. Im not saying they are the end all be all, because they are limited to use on the extremities, and I think people make a big deal about carrying tourniquets, but completely ignore potential torso injuries, but tourniquets work better than anything else I have seen for their intended purpose.

[SOS24]

The last I heard 14 years ago volunteering for a fire department they were still saying not to use them. Until I hear otherwise through training from the county medical director there is plenty of other gear I put more value on.

I am not trying to pick a fight or be difficult but this reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when they said eggs were bad for you. Now they are not. Opinions and practices are sure to change.

A lot can happen in 14 years. You are correct in that tourniquet use used to be discouraged, even said to be almost a guarantee on limb amputation. But in advancements of both technology and research, tourniquets have come to be recognized by the medical field as a recommended lifesaving device to stop major bleeding. Now even the Basic First Aid and “Stop the Bleed” courses teach tourniquet use as a recommended lifesaving measure.

Here are a couple articles regarding tourniquet usage:
https://www.jems.com/2016/04/06/tour...tive-bleeding/
https://www.trauma-news.com/2018/04/...-in-mortality/
https://www.acepnow.com/article/tour...of-surgeons/2/

[voodoo_man]

The last I heard 14 years ago volunteering for a fire department they were still saying not to use them. Until I hear otherwise through training from the county medical director there is plenty of other gear I put more value on.

I am not trying to pick a fight or be difficult but this reminds me of the late 80s/early 90s when they said eggs were bad for you. Now they are not. Opinions and practices are sure to change.

They used to teach in classes in the MIL and LE (this was 15-20 years ago) that if you apply a tourniquet on a person you are sentencing that person to losing that limb because you WILL cause irreparable damage to that person's limb by applying it.

That's literally none-sense, proven over and over again.

I have personally applied over a dozen tourniquets in real world circumstances to those who would have died if I had not, and I am not unique in this either. There is a whole thesis that can be written and hundreds of reason to carry, and train with, a tourniquet that can be explained to the smallest detail. Literally zero detractors for having and learning how to use a tourniquet.

The only thing I ask you one thing, and its just reiterating what I wrote in my article - are you okay with standing there helplessly and watching a loved one bleed out and die, knowing full well that a simple tourniquet could have saved them?

[KevinRohrer]

How many DC folks carry some sort of tourniquet?

My tourniquet goes along with the multiple guns and mags, knives, OC, brass knuckles, Kubaton, belt first aid kit, et al the Closet Commandoes advocate wearing. None needed, none carried, although I may throw one in my range bag after watching others shoot at the range I goto.

[Double Naught Spy]

Massive appendicular bleeds. How many times have we run across those in the civilian world where somebody lamented, "If I only had a tourniquet..."

I have a tourni in my hunting gear. Otherwise, after 37 years of adult life, I have yet to be in a situation where I, or anyone else needed one. If you go with "it might save a life one day" of preparedness justification, you could drive around with a whole truck of gear that might save a life one day. Keeping all that gear would be space consuming and maintaining it would be very expensive.

With that said, there are a variety of jobs where having one with you would be very prudent, no doubt about it.