Tourniquet Effectiveness and Improvisation

Tourniquets are critical for controlling life-threatening bleeding, especially in trauma situations, but there are misconceptions regarding improvised options. Traditional commercial tourniquets are preferred, but in cases where they are unavailable, using a space blanket to create a tourniquet may be considered. The study discussed involved using a windlass method with a space blanket tied around a limb, and findings indicated that while the space blanket can be applied successfully, it lacked effectiveness compared to commercial options. Specifically, while arterial flow was occluded 100% of the time with the commercial tourniquet, this was achieved only 52% of the time with the improvised version.