Prep School Daily: The Myth and Math of the “Tactical” Tampon Several people have attempted to refute the myth, but the myth of the tactical tampon stopping a life-threatening hemorrhage just refuses to die. And if you try to ever so gently school a Tampon Truther with facts, you’re labeled as the village idiot while the Truthers smugly work the room with their superior knowledge. Actually, they just shout down every voice of reason. I’ve even seen (self-proclaimed—not sure I believe they’re licensed or certified) nurses and nursing students do it. So let’s look at some facts and the math to accompany the information.
That method was abandoned many years ago when the Iraq/Afghanistan wars began. Numerous trauma surgeons began advising against that method as it would not stop or clot massive deep hemorrhaging. With the re-introduction of the use of tourniquets and advent of Quick Clot battlefield medicine drastically changed.
I suppose if you have nothing else to plug the hole, they would do but Quik Clot gauze would be much better. I mean, I was just at a 'Stop the Bleed' class last Spring, and they said to stuff the wound with gauze, pack it in there. No gauze then a handful of tampons might do but certainly not as a first choice.
Had to retrain every six months, and the "Tactical Tampon" always came up, almost as a joke, but always ended up taking a few min. to discuss it's use and history. Like bandit above posted, better to have them not, especially in a critical situation where your low or out of other, better resources, could save someone that otherwise might not be saved! Case in point, had a "Mass Trauma" call out, seriously bad, as in multiple CAT-1 Alphas, only two of us medics, and 1 M-5 field kit to work from, too hot to land additional medics so we had them air drop another bag. Working with the Medic on the ground, we went through those bags FAST, got a through and through lung shot, and no more quick clot, so, got two tampons, a couple pairs of forceps and a couple twists of stitching! Like everyone says, stop the bleed, I can transfuse as I go, cannot keep doing that indefinitely, so.... While far from ideal, they can and do work, and might be well worth having in a kit, or not, depending on how far your willing or able to go, but even then, having a kit so that someone else might be able to use it, priceless in my book! I have come up on bad car accidents, nobody has any kit, and even have had the EMTs run dry, so having a good kit is literally a life saver, and ultimately, includes things that may not be current, but we're once! Look to our War of Northern Aggression, battle field trauma care has come a long ways, but still uses some treatments that haven't really changed all that much, doesn't mean the old ideas and such were bad, or didn't work, and when the Shit hits the Fan, might be the only options you have!
since there was discussion about the quikclot solution to wound bleed - here's more >>> Prep School Daily: DIY Chitosan (Celox) Dressings--Good Meds for the Armageddon Pharmacy Then there are those expensive items that we feel the need to stock, but how many do we need? Because they are expensive and there are other ways to use that money. But if it’s something like QuikClot or Celox for stopping serious bleeding, you don’t want to be caught short-handed. Such a dilemma. It’s hard to fork over $12 for a single 4x4” square of gauze or gauze roll. Especially when you might need a few, you know, for all the hunting and shooting IFAKs as well as the regular home medical kits. And they have a shelf life. So that’s why I was absolutely gob-smacked to stumble upon the directions for DIY chitosan-covered gauze in Dr. Alton’s Survival Medicine Handbook, 4th Edition (p 469). He is a doctor and all that, but I still wanted to find further confirmation of this being an acceptable method, so I did some additional digging. There is very little to report. Prep School Daily: DIY QuikClot Hemostatic Dressings—Good Meds for the Armageddon Medicine Chest As you may or may not recall, just last month there was a post on DIY chitosan dressings. And if we already have one DIY to do the job, why would we want two? Other than the prepper principle that “two is one, and one is none”? And it’s a great question. The best answer is that these are two entirely different products used in different situations. Yes, the purpose of these hemostatics (an agent that hastens blood clotting) is the same: to stop serious bleeding. Chitosan is best for internal use; QuikClot for external use. First off, let’s get these two guys straight in our brains before proceeding any further.
