
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By GunnyFitz:Forgive the late response. I found your post extremely informative and looked up the items you speak of within. Particularly these:
IClamp Now
THIS device appears to require some serious medical training doesn't it? (No litter use though) Even prepped for use I see it being difficult while under any type of duress. Funny how the Doc threw it across the room! Did the "double amputee" survive though?
Thanks again....
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Yeah the iTClamp is auth'd under TCCC for prehospital use now, it demo'd well when I saw it and looked easy enough to apply. Assuming the plastic is durable enough to live in an aid bag I can see 1-2 of them being a staple in any doorkicking medic's toolbag.
I wish I had a few as a young guy in AFG.
On the CRoC not really. With a working knowledge of anatomy you can do a lot of stabilize trauma and buy some time, if not save lives. Not sure about the pt, he made it to Walter Reed though, wasn't one of ours.
On the Army prehospital side the SAM JTQ and others like it are now our go-to devices for those injuries for a few reasons. In my book their simplicity means less failure points - with the SAM JTQ it's functionally a pelvic binder with a BP cuff that velcros proximal to a bleed.
If the SAM never existed it wouldn't surprise me to find an article saying one of the cartel guys that came in during the surge cobbled one together with a belt and a BP cuff, combining his knowledge of anatomy and experience popping doors with an air wedge.
You see it all the time, and eventually you end up in that position yourself every now and then.
The ingenuity of young guys under duress always surprises me. Unfortunately the surprise is sometimes a 20% APR Camaro with a trunk full of xboxes.
Not as sexy but another adjunct that's been a game-changer is the iGel. It's not new but so much easier to use than the Combi-tubes and KING-LT airways I learned to use when I came in.
It's another example of streamlining application. iGel application simplifies measuring(usually), cutting, insertion finesse, inflating, etc etc to
1. Open sterile package
2. Insert iGel appropriately
Teaching KING LT refreshers can take 1-2 hours depending on experience, iGels take an hour for a med section. Most of that time being hands-on drilling the skill over and over.