Granular or powdered agents fell out of favor over ten years ago as they “wash out” of actively bleeding wounds, are hard to get to the point of bleeding deep inside a wound

Hemostatic powders don’t work

Posted by Mike Shertz MD/18D
Categories (M) Massive Hemorrhage, Equipment

🕖 Reading Time, 1 minutes

We recently discovered “active shooter kits” being marketed to agencies and schools containing granular hemostatic agents. Granular or powdered hemostatic agents fell out of favor over ten years ago as they “wash out” of actively bleeding wounds, are hard to get to the point of bleeding deep inside a wound, and in military settings, frequently blow into everyone’s eyes and faces with rotor wash. For this reason, hemostatic gauze is the preferred option. There is no hemostatic granular/powdered agent recommended by TCCC.

Mike Shertz MD/18D

Dr. Mike Shertz is the Owner and Lead Instructor at Crisis Medicine. Dr. Shertz is a dual-boarded Emergency Medicine and EMS physician, having spent over 30 years gaining the experience and insight to create and provide his comprehensive, science-informed, training to better prepare everyday citizens, law enforcement, EMS, and the military to manage casualties and wounded in high-risk environments. Drawing on his prior experience as an Army Special Forces medic (18D), two decades as an armed, embedded tactical medic on a regional SWAT team, and as a Fire Service and EMS medical director.

Using a combination of current and historical events, Dr. Shertz’s lectures include relevant, illustrative photos, as well as hands-on demonstrations to demystify the how, why, when to use each emergency medical procedure you need to become a Force Multiplier for Good.

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