[Betty]

For serious gunshot wounds and other severe wounds, I keep QuikClot in my vehicle.

The effectiveness of QuikClot brand hemostatic agent has been proven in extensive testing at the University of Connecticut , Hartford Hospital , the U.S. Marine War Fighting Lab, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). And it\'s currently available for military and first-responder organizations such as fire, rescue, police, and Emergency Medical Services.

QuikClot brand hemostatic agent speeds coagulation of blood, even in large wounds, through a very simple process: It physically adsorbs the liquid from blood, thereby concentrating the clotting factors and encouraging rapid clotting to stop the bleeding. 

QuikClot brand hemostatic agent is different from similar products in that it is chemically inert, and therefore is safe to leave in or on the wound until the patient receives medical treatment.  Furthermore, since it contains nothing biological or botanical, there is little or no danger of an allergic reaction.

It\'s received very good reviews and our Marines, FBI, and others use it. If you decide to carry some, read the directions and become familiar with the do\'s and don\'ts. I added a clean towel and some latex gloves to my kit. I have not had to use it, thank goodness. I also gave one to my brother and my father. My dad takes his tractor over 200 acres of land, and any kind of accident can happen where help may not arrive in time.

If anyone has actually used the stuff, please share your experience.

 

[Bumper]

I checked out their website (fairly quickly) from your other post but didn\'t see anything about the price. I keep a pretty extensive first aid kit and wouldn\'t mind throwing another one in my range bag.

 

[KC135]

Trained with Doc Gunn and John Farnam last Feb. According to Doc Gunn and other ER docs I have talked to, product is badly oversold.

From my training as an EMT (no longer current, dropped my cert at age 71) just not too sure I want an untrained person pouring the stuff on me. Better than nothing? Don\'t know. Usually bleeding is not the cause of death.

Tough subject, think I\'ll continue with my convential methods for controling bleeding.

Last time I checked our local EMS service was not using the product.

One piece of advice...anyone that carrys a gun shoud have some advanced first aid training, current professional level CPR training, etc.

 

[10-Ring]

This product is known to cause tissue damage (chemical burns). Better off with training.

Remember, direct pressure is your friend.

A cheap, very effective barrier to aid in stopping bleeding? Feminine Hygenic products. Been used for YEARS, saved a lot of folks.

YMMV

 

[Betty]

This product is known to cause tissue damage (chemical burns). Better off with training.

From what I understand, that damage came with improper usage of the product: adding water when you were not supposed to. Adding water raised the temperature of the product to the degree where it caused burns.

 

[Moondoggie]

Gloves, femine hygiene absorbent products, and vetwrap are the top layer in my primary FA kit.

Last accident scene I was at before the EMT\'s an off-duty nurse (still in her scrubs) was holding a wad of paper napkins barehanded on a headwound. Her first words to me as I came running up to her were \"Please tell me you have gloves in that box...I can\'t believe I\'m doing this w/o gloves!\" I rinsed her hands with Peroxide and then gloved her. When I broke out a \"pad\" she asked \"Is that what I think it is? Wow, what a great idea!\"

I\'ll check out this blood stopper stuff...might be handy to have around for OTR trucking. I\'ve been at several mishaps in the middle of nowhere quite awhile before the EMT\'s.

 

[rstickle]

>When I broke out a \"pad\" she asked \"Is that what I think it is? Wow, what a great idea!\"

When I went through EMT training in Maryland (too many years ago) pads were highly recommended as pressure bandages.

Rick

 

[Moondoggie]

I don\'t know what \"type\" of nurse she was...the EMT\'s showed up shortly after I arrived and I wanted to get my 18 wheeler off the shoulder and out of the way, so we didn\'t chat much.

Yeah, rstickle, my Uncle was an EMT many years ago and has also told me that\'s what they used in their rescue squad....much cheaper than purchasing from the hospital/medical supply distributors.

Cheap, sterile, effective...works for me!

 

[KC135]

Two items I carry are disposable diapers, and duct tape.

 

[clubsoda22]

As an EMT, i don\'t even use this stuff in the field. If you want to carry something for gunshot woulds, carry a pair of latex gloves and learn how to apply pressure to a wound.

From reading gun boards it frightens me how many people are running around with this stuff and have no training.

 

[clubsoda22]

Originally posted by Moondoggie
I don\'t know what \"type\" of nurse she was...the EMT\'s showed up shortly after I arrived and I wanted to get my 18 wheeler off the shoulder and out of the way, so we didn\'t chat much.

Yeah, rstickle, my Uncle was an EMT many years ago and has also told me that\'s what they used in their rescue squad....much cheaper than purchasing from the hospital/medical supply distributors.

Cheap, sterile, effective...works for me!

If you\'re going to carry something why not carry gauze and occlusive dressings?

use the right product first, and if the right thing is not available then improvise and know how to improvise correctly. Pads work, tampons work too if you take them out of the tube, unfold them and use it like a dressing. I\'ve seen it suggested elsewhere that you stick it in the hole which is possibly the dumbest idea i\'ve ever heared.

Last thing i need when i\'m shot is somebody sticking a tampon in me because he read it on glocktalk.

 

[APachon]

I have been told to rotate my gloves out of my 1stAid kit as they lose their elasticity and then universal precaustions can not be employed with torn gloves. Is this true??? My Mom-In-Law is Rick Mgr at a Hospital so I have an endless supply of glvoes, but I am still curious. I have used my 1stAid kit more for surf injuries than anything else. Thank God.

~A

 

[Moondoggie]

Nobody was talking about tampons, Clubsoda22. Nor were we talking about GSW\'s.

In general, we were talking about methods to stop bleeding specifically initiated about a product called Quikclot.

My frame of reference was oriented toward being at a traffic accident (several times in my life) prior to EMT\'s arrival and being prepared to apply the four life saving steps until better equipped help arrived.

Geesh!

 

[clubsoda22]

My only suggestion to you was to carry real medical supplies and save the creative alternatives for when you don\'t have the proper supplies available. Why carry feminine pads in your medkit when you can carry real supplies?

The rest was crap that always come up when the subject of quick clot or field medicine come up on gun boards. It wasn\'t directed towards you

As for the glove question. I\'ve had the same box of latex gloves in my trunk for 2 years and they have not lost their elasticity.

 

[randyb]

As an EMT i have heard of less than favorable reports on the Quickclot and.....another brand out there that uses ground shellfish \'shells'as a clotting agent. I think I\'ll stick with pressure dressings and such. I have used (boy as a man this is going to sound wrong) maxi-pads with good effect before and have found little difference between them and regular dressings.

 

[randyb]

Here is an Item that I regularly carry in my SAR/Cave rescue pack and is used on the ambulance service I work for. Its called Bloodstopper and is a pressure bandage with two wraps, one can be used and one wrap can be left in place to increase pressure on the injury. I have a pic but cannot post it at this time. Here is a site with it:

http://www.buyemp.com/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=1081202

 

[clubsoda22]

no doubt the pad works, but between that and vaseline gauze and a 5x9 if the option is availible.

 

[StandOnGuard]

10-ring and moondoggie, I'm not sure I know exactly which feminine hygiene products you're talking about, but I heard that tampons are designed to prevent clotting, which would be the opposite of the desired effect in a first aid scenario.

 

[madmike]

The basic, old-fashioned, no-frills feminine pads (like the Maxi-Pad,) do make a good expedient "battle dressing." These were shipped to Nicaragua a few years back, to supply the the rebels fighting Sandinista government.

They are a viable alternative to the "real deal," when cost is a factor, such as needing to quick supply a small army. But if we're talking about an individual kit, the good stuff isn't that expensive.

mm