Gauze or Hemostatic Dressing?

In this day and age, we need to broaden our knowledge and requirements for proper medical supplies. Medical suppliers put together kits that they claim are the minimum required equipment for proper individual first aid kits. As the general public, end user and buyer we need to remember they are selling with the aim to make a profit.To get more news about combat gause, you can visit rusuntacmed.com official website.

Having been a first responder to multiple mass casualty situations I have seen that techniques can trump equipment. If you don’t have a CAT tourniquet do we just throw our hands up and let the victim die of exsanguination? I would hope not. If we understand how a tourniquet works then we can use other techniques with other materials to accomplish the task of stopping the bleed.

This brings me to my question. What is better a roll of regular gauze, gauze impregnated with a hemostatic agent or granular hemostatic agents to stop the bleed? If we understand that what ultimately stops the bleed is pressure, then I would argue that a roll of gauze is just as effective as a hemostatic dressing. Again, I have used both on real wounded casualties and personally a roll of gauze is easier to use and just as effective.

It would appear my observation has also been the subject of studies done by various groups of medical doctors. According to the “Comparison of Celox-A, ChitoFlex, WoundStat, and Combat Gauze Hemostatic Agents Versus Standard Gauze Dressing in Control of Hemorrhage in a Swine Model of Penetrating Trauma” written by Lanny F. Littlejohn, MD, John J. Devlin, MD, Sara S. Kircher, Robert Lueken, MD, Michael R. Melia, MD, and Andrew S. Johnson,
It should be noted that any of the above-mentioned agents can fail if applied incorrectly; therefore, appropriate training is the key to minimizing this risk.

In summary QuickClot and other hemostatic dressings look and sound sexy, but what real advantages to they provide? I am not saying that hemostatic agents do not work, rather I am saying understanding how they work and their side effects should be considered.

When I speak to clients regarding their emergency medical needs I explain that I would rather put their money towards increasing additional medical supplies and getting more bang for the buck. Here are my recommendations for an effective individual first aid kit (trauma) that could be purchased for around $30.
An argument of SWAT-T verse CAT tourniquets could also be made however SWAT-T is multifunctional and is $10 verses the single purpose $30 CAT. (I understand the stance of what a life is worth however the honest truth is we all need to be budget conscious especially when you deal in volume to add hundreds of medical kits for large organizations)