tourniquets

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Pret had something with his "compare Baghdad to Baltimore" statement. I'll take the liberty to compare Da Nang (circa '69) to Detroit: The homeboys in Detroit 1) can't shoot straight (thank God), and 2) (usually) use low velocity weapons (thank God again). Low-velocity GSWs tend to crush tissue, and bleeding from an extremity is usually adequately controlled with direct pressure.  Wounds produced by high-velocity rounds, however, such as the 7.62 x 39 mm (AK-47) produce considerable soft tissue injury and sometimes near-amputation of an extremity. Bleeding from these injuries can be difficult to control with direct pressure, and in many situations using a tourniquet may be all that a corpsman can do to keep his Marine from bleeding to death. I doubt that much has changed in terms of GSWs in Bahgdad - the AK-47 is still a favorite killing tool. Likewise, wounds produced by "Bouncing Bettys" (a creative VC modification of the Claymore mine) or the contemporary IEDs are likely to prod
uce extremity wounds in which hemorrrhage is difficult to control with available hands, thus necessitating a tourniquet. Any young combat medics out there with input?

DB

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