Dr. B's Finest Kind Medical clinic and Fish Market

For years, we used pressure, packing, and very expensive fibrin products to stop hemorrhage.

So I was vaguely aware that there was a new "battlefield" dressing to stop hemorrhage from wounds.

http://www72.homepage.villanova.edu/michael.fazzini/WSJ_com%20-%20Battlefield%20Medical%20Advances%20May%20Save%20Wounded%20Soldiers.htm

At less than $20 for a 3½-ounce packet, QuikClot is relatively cheap, although it has one major drawback: It can sometimes absorb water molecules so quickly that it generates a noticeable amount of heat. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Joseph DaCorta of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va., says he takes reports of that problem seriously, although his lab hasn't been able to duplicate it. Bart Gullong, vice president of Z-Medica, says the company warns users to avoid the heating problem by keeping the product dry.

While the Marines have deployed QuikClot in roughly 15,000 first-aid kits in the Persian Gulf, individual Marines are instructed to use the powder only if traditional bandages and tourniquets have failed to control bleeding, Cmdr. DaCorta says. Z-Medica also has sold 30,000 units of QuikClot to the Army, Mr. Gullong says.

But leafing through Field and Stream, I found that it now can be bought in the civilian sector. (no link-- it's the newest F&S, which won't be on line for a month).

This could be a lifesaver for hunting or hiking accidents.

http://www.merginet.com/index.cfm?pg=trauma&fn=Clottingagent

http://alphanet.zoovy.com/category/quikclotfromzmedica/

See, it pays to go with one's hubby to get his hair cut. Not only do you get a handsome husband, but you learn medical stuff from unlikely sources.

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