Tourniquet – How to Make One in An Emergency

Like many Americans, we have followed the events in Boston bombing over the last week closely. While many aspects of the bombing were horrible, one uplifting aspect was the brave and heroic response of untrained bystanders who rushed to aid the injured, many of whom received complex lower extremity wounds. An interview today done by Anderson Cooper with Adrianne Haslet-Davis and her husband revealed that after they were injured they attempted to tourniquet their wounds with leather belts that they looped through the buckle and then pulled up tight. They should be commended for keeping cool enough in a terrifying situation to try to staunch the blood flow. Another way that an emergency tourniquet is sometimes fashioned in the field and is based on the military technique for placing tourniquets is as follows: 1. Obtain an article of light-weight, flexible clothing such as a large t-shirt, neck tie, ladies’ scarf, pants, or men’s dress shirt or any sturdy cord or rope if readily available. A large black trash bag can also be used 2. If a T-shirt or dress shirt is used, the cloth is rolled like a cigar wrapper from sleeve to sleeve to make a fabric roll that is as long and thin as possible and roughly resembles a rolled marijuana cigarette. It may be necessary to partially tear the garment to create increased dimension. The longest, thinnest piece of fabric that can be quickly fashioned is preferred. Rolled marijuana cigarette conformation ideal for emergency tourniq...
Source: Inside Surgery - Category: Surgeons Authors: Tags: Trauma Surgery Adrianne Haslet-Davis boston bombing emergency field how to make how to use tourniquet Source Type: blogs