• C P T Yuval Glick, M A J Ariel Furer, C O L Elon Glassberg, Roni Sharon, and M A J Ran Ankory.
• Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps, Surgeon General's Headquarters, Military POB 02149 Tel Hashomer, Ramat Gan, Israel, Military Postal Code 01215.
• Mil Med. 2018 Mar 1; 183 (suppl_1): 157-161.

IntroductionExperience from recent conflicts underlines the dramatic impact of effective tourniquet use on combat casualty mortality. Although the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) is replacing the silicone band tourniquets (IST; "Israeli Silicone Tourniquet") in the Israeli Defense Forces, no direct comparison was made between them. The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of the two tourniquets on a mid-thigh model.MethodsParticipants were Israeli military recruits who previously had the military first aid course. Each participant applied both the CAT and the IST. Applications were assessed by the HapMed Leg Tourniquet Trainer, which measured the applied pressure and the time required to reach it.ResultsIST application resulted in higher rates of effective occlusion pressure compared with the CAT (91% vs. 73.1%, p < 0.01), and a higher mean occlusion pressure (41 mmHg, p < 0.01) was recorded using the IST. Among effective attempts, application time did not differ significantly between the tourniquets.ConclusionThe IST was superior to the CAT in producing effective occlusion pressure while not prolonging application time. These results may indicate that the IST remains a valid option for controlling mid-thigh bleeding.

17 keywords...

hide…