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“How small of a child can the CAT Tourniquet be used on” is a frequently asked question. There are actually two major considerations when deciding to apply a tourniquet to a child. First, is the tourniquet effectiveness. That is, will it stop life-threatening bleeding in an injured extremity. The second aspect is safety. This means will the tourniquet device itself cause unintended injury to extremity when it is applied. One of the confounding variables when discussing children is that the medical community refers to that population as “pediatric,” which is defined as an age under 18. This unfortunate definition means that a 17 year old starting lineman on a high school football team is often viewed in the same manner as the 17 month old toddler. Please read the attached letter from North American Rescue reference the use of CAT Tourniquet's in pediatric's 
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International Trauma Life Support (ITLS) explains TXA in a nutshell. TXA is the standard of care in the UK and is gaining speed in the US. Several ground EMS and rotor wing aircraft have protocols for TXA. TXA is also the standard of care for the United States Military in combat environments and have trained EMT-B/Combat Medics on indications and contraindications for use. TXA is included in the curriculm for NAEMT's TECC and TCCC courses as well as included in the guidelines for each. Click below for a video overview and the article from ITLS. North American Rescue makes a MCI WALK kit for your mass casualty events. This kit carries several tourniquets, ETD's, TCCC Cards, and patient extraction either by Talon II or soft litters.
Water Jel Burn Dressings are being used in EMS services around the country and in Mid Missouri. Here is the training video! Let us know if you use this product on a patient and the results!
This disposable heated blanket is an amazing tool to prevent hypothermia secondary to traumatic injury. It takes about 8 minutes to heat up to 125 degrees Fahrenheit and last about 8 hours. This is a great tool for short or long transports, rotor wing, fixed wing, or ground transports as well as during wilderness rescue. Remember, it's much easier to prevent hypothermia then it is to treat hypothermia!
The Emergency Trauma Dressing (ETD) has changed designs. Here is the YouTube video of the new ETD's being sold by North American Rescue.
 RevMedx receives FDA clearance for XSTAT™, a first-in-kind hemostatic device for the treatment of gunshot wounds on the battlefield.
WILSONVILLE, Ore. (April 7, 2014) – RevMedx, Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared XSTAT™, a hemostatic device for the control of bleeding from junctional wounds in the groin or axilla not amenable to tourniquet application in adults and adolescents. XSTAT is a temporary device for use up to four hours until surgical care is acquired and is intended for use in the battlefield. The FDA reviewed XSTAT through its de novo classification process, a regulatory pathway for some novel, low- to moderate-risk medical devices that are first-of-a-kind. "XSTAT is a novel device that can be rapidly deployed, providing fast-acting hemorrhage control to stabilize a wounded patient for transport," said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "This will be an important new treatment option for our nation's military to treat injured soldiers who may not be in close proximity to a medical facility." Uncontrolled external hemorrhage is the leading cause of death on the battlefield. Bullets, knives or shrapnel can cause penetrating wounds in junctional areas—where the legs or arms meet the torso—that cannot be treated with a tourniquet or manual compression. The XSTAT device was designed to address this unmet need in combat medicine. XSTAT works by injecting a group of small, rapidly-expanding sponges into a wound cavity using a syringe-like applicator. In a wound, the XSTAT sponges expand and swell to fill the wound cavity within 20 seconds of contact with blood. This creates a temporary barrier to blood flow and provides hemostatic pressure. Each sponge contains an x-ray detectable marker to aid in surgical removal. XSTAT is not indicated for use in: the thorax; the pleural cavity; the mediastinum; the abdomen; the retroperitoneal space; the sacral space above the inguinal ligament; or tissues above the clavicle. “We are pleased to receive clearance for the XSTAT device, which brings a new capability to military medics for treating a major cause of preventable combat death,” said Andrew Barofsky, CEO of RevMedx. “We are committed to offering new solutions for the unmet needs of military first responders and their patients.” RevMedx plans to make the XSTAT available for battlefield use later this year. The development of XSTAT was supported by grants from the U.S. Special Operations Command and the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command’s Combat Casualty Care Research Program. About RevMedx: Based in Wilsonville, Ore., RevMedx is a privately-held medical device company that designs, develops, and manufactures lifesaving medical products. Working closely with Special Forces medics, RevMedx succeeded in developing XSTAT, a first-in-kind hemostatic device for the control of bleeding from junctional wounds on the battlefield. Find out more at www.revmedx.com. Be aware of fraudulent tourniquets. A CAT typically costs $25-30, if you buy one on Amazon or similar company for $8, it's probably fake and will not be effective when needed. Check the reviews! I have not heard of any fake SOF Tactical Tourniquet's. CAT and SOF-T are the only approved tourniquets by the C-TCCC to date. Gen 7 CAT's are now available. Here are the highlights of the features that have been upgraded from the Gen 6's.  |
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