“….Stopping blood loss, from the battlefield to the trauma units and ambulances right here in Chicago, a new technology pumps up the blood’s ability to clot and helps ease the shock of wound injuries.”
Dr. Andrew Dennis reports that Chicago’s Cook County Hospital Trauma unit is one of the busiest in the country. “We see about 5,000 patients annually, at least half from violence related activities. “Shock sets in when the blood is not in the vessel, the tissues that need blood, starve from lack of oxygen and start to shut down.” The pressure is on for Stroger Hospital trauma doctors who used to use simple tourniquets; gauze pads and hold pressure with their own hands to stop bleeding.
Now there is a new product: QuikClot pad is a bandage containing the hemostatic agent, kaolin, a natural mineral that makes platelets stick together accelerating the bloods ability to stick together and cause the blood to clot.
Trauma surgeon Dr. Dennis says, “In the operating room here, we have great hope for these kinds of things. If I can put a pad on the liver it becomes like a “fire-and-forget” missile. I can put this pad on the liver and stop the bleeding, and then I can go and do other things and attend to other patients.
The Northwest Community EMS system stocks about 100 ambulances and fire engines with the life saving bandages. Firefighter Josh Pluta hopes they’ll help him stop bleeding well before his patients arrive the hospital. Pluta says, “…we’ve been using QuikClot for a few months now. If direct pressure fails, we’ll use QuikClot. I do believe it will help us save lives. If someone is bleeding out, uncontrollably, it will cause death. Now we can stop them from bleeding out and save their lives.”
Soldiers use them in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as sports teams like the Detroit Red Wings and Notre Dame Football and you can buy them at some sporting goods stores.”