For the love of God, I hope yer kidding.

I don't think he was. People still believe this is a good idea and that it works.

Just a couple reasons why they're a terrible idea:

they contain anti-coagulants so women don't clot and get toxic shock syndrome;

they're made to not be very absorbent so women change them as to not get toxic shock syndrome;

they have very little absorbing material in comparison to say, a roll of z-rolled or h-rolled gauze;

they provide no pressure when wound packing to help achieve hemostasis

etc etc

SMH...must be a troll.

And last, promote absorption of blood, which means you arent letting the blood clot at the site of injury... Which means it keeps bleeding.

On the other hand, you have a pretty wound withouta lot of VISIBLE blood loss.  So they  look clean while they bleed out.

Unfortunately for us, bad advice seems to stick around as long or longer than sound practice. The suggestion of a tampon as a wound packing device is evidence of such. I'd rather use a wadded up t-shirt in extremis.

I agree with the whole t-shirt over a tampon statement. If someone is bleeding to death then it is important to pack the wound and dress it. If you have actual medical items thats better but if you don't then pack some sort of clothing item or rag or similar into the wound and apply pressure. I had a similar talk with someone the other day about the tampon idea. I explained most people have forgotten that when you apply a bandage or band-aid that the point is to clot the blood and apply pressure, it is NOT to keep "icky blood" from dripping. That is why people suggest tampons because they believe that because it is absorbent that it will do the job of bandage.

As many have stated, training is important. Gear is great but knowledge and information is more important. Carry your medical stuff where ever you feel necessary but know how to use it and how to rig up something. If you are out of tq's or bandages or gauze then know how to rig something up.  

I buy all my medical stuff from http://www.dealmed.com/ . You can't beat $3.49 shipping.

I don't think they stock all the Gucci medical stuff like Izzies and TQs, but for stuff like Kerlix, 4x4's, etc. they have some great prices. I keep a few ETD's on hand for my personal kit, but keep a good amount of kerlix, ace wraps, and 4x4's in the aid bag as a MASCAL/poor man's ETD.

This is a good place too: http://www.20dollarbandit.com/

 

Not sure if they have PALS however.

Just remember that there is a big difference between a Blow Out Kit (BOK) and a First Aid Kit (IFAK).





BOKs should have what you need for IMMEDIATE treatment of a massive, potential life threatening trauma. People have already listed great components for a BOK.

Gloves

Shears

Tourniquets (SOF-W, SWAT, etc)

Hemostat/clotting agents, gauzeP

Pressure bandages (OLAES, IZZY, etc)

Chest seals (HALO)

Sharpie

and tape at a minimum.

A dirty, nasty T-shirt is a far better idea, in any situation, than a tampon. We can fix infection, can't fix no blood in the stream.

And my first aid kit is a 43lb aid bag i the back on my car that can treat everything under the sun, unless you need a band aid.

Because if all you need is a band aid, I'll give you a straw and tell you to suck it up.

That's fuckin' poetic.

My aid bag's a third that weight, but I'm only an EMT-B.