Tourniquet could prove a life saver

Volume 48, No. 12, July 13, 2006

ADF members deploying on overseas operations are being trained and issued the new Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT), introduced as a life-saving measure.

Medical staff at Deployed Forces Support Unit (DFSU) at Randwick Barracks, Sydney, have started CAT training for deploying ADF personnel. The training consists of a 40-minute lesson on the features of the tourniquet and how and when to apply it.

DFSU medic CPL Carol Bell said there were serious implications to using a tourniquet. “One should only be used for a bleed you cannot control,” she said.

“Other control methods should be applied in the first instance and the tourniquet used only as a last resort.”

According to the Defence Health Bulletin No 4/2006, the CAT has been designed to quickly and effectively stem arterial blood flow.

It is only to be used to control extremity haemorrhaging and when other control methods have failed or operational circumstances preclude conventional management, for example, when under fire.

“The CAT is simple to use and can easily be operated one-handed,” CPL Bell said.

It is intended for use only on arm or leg wounds, and, once applied, there should be no pulse below the tourniquet site.

Eventually all ADF personnel deployed on operation will be trained and issued with the CAT, which will replace the HemCon bandage. Until this time the HemCon bandage will still be carried by ADF members and medical staff.

SO2 Defence Health Services Division LTCOL David Thomas, said during the transition phase no ADF member deployed on operation would be without either a CAT or a HemCon bandage.

For more info see the Defence Health Bulletin No 4/2006.