Pediatric Arm Laceration
A nine-year-old with an arterial bleed from a broken mason jar, and a 45-minute transport with the tourniquet in place.
- Applied by Civilian, trained
- Worked as expected
- Survived
Reported source material
In the reporter's own words. Snakestaff has not edited, summarised or endorsed the statements below.
Dispatch reported a 9-year-old male severely bleeding from a broken mason jar. Upon arrival, patient was sitting on his father's lap on the front porch. His father had wrapped the arm in a beach towel and applied a belt around the bicep. Bleeding was slowed but still ongoing. I applied my tourniquet proximal to the shoulder, tightened until bleeding stopped, then removed the belt and towel. The wound measured approximately 4" x 1½" with multiple laceration layers. I dressed the wound with 4x4s under pressure and cling wrap. The patient became noticeably more relaxed once bleeding was controlled. Paramedics arrived about 5 minutes later and transported him 45 minutes to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital. During transport, the tourniquet remained in place. Upon arrival, arterial blood spurted from the wound after removal, which was then controlled by hospital staff.
The source lists the applicator as "Bystander/First Responder", which is not one of the document's own applicator codes. Mapped to CIV+.
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Snakestaff Systems commentary
Our own analysis of this case.
This was reportedly the applicator's first real-patient use of the tourniquet. The device was applied to a pediatric patient with arterial bleeding and remained in place during a roughly 45-minute transport. The case also shows the value of having appropriate bleeding-control equipment available when improvised measures are not fully controlling the bleeding.