Tourniquets: Tactical Medical Solutions

Old-school thinking held that if a tourniquet were used on an extremity wound, the injured person would lose that limb. That has been shown to be incorrect, and tourniquets are now in the first-aid kits of medics on battlefields and streets worldwide. SWAT Medic B.J. Hall presents three tourniquets that he has found reliable and effective as tactical medical solutions: the Pneumatic Tourniquet, the C-A-T Tourniquet, and the SOF-T Tourniquet. To stop bleeding on extremity wounds, a tourniquet should be your go-to tool.

3 Responses to “Tourniquets: Tactical Medical Solutions”

1. derek2 October 24th, 2021

   Tourniquets are not the first line of stopping the bleed. It is pressure and, if necessary, stuffing the wound. Only if these two do not work, then the tourniquet is applied. And one must note the time applied as well.

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2. ralph October 5th, 2013

   rob, now how about a video about how to use these touriquets

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3. gunslinger454 May 31st, 2013

   BTW, don’t think that you can just improvise a tourniquet, & it will be as good as a purpose made tourniquet like the C.A.T.. IT WON’T! The persistent myth that using a tourniquet will automatically result in the loss of the limb comes in large part from improvised tourniquets! A tourniquets needs to be at least 1.5″-2″ wide. Sure you can stop the bleeding with a shoe string, a neck tie or a piece of rope, and doing so is far preferable to dying, but your improvised tourniquet will cause so much tissue damage that loss of the limb is a real possibility! Belts are often wide enough, but they’re extremely difficult to tighten enough to stop the bleeding. The real solution is to buy a C.A.T. & keep it handy!

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