WALLINGFORD, Conn — Wallingford Firefighters and Paramedics are learning training to help the most severely affected trauma patients.
The Wallingford Department has acquired “abdominal junctional aortic tourniquets” which have been used by the military for much of the past decade. They now have been green-lighted by the FDA for civilian use.
In short, the new tourniquets go beyond stopping the bleeding in extremities and are made to go over the torso.
“These are advanced bleeding control measures, very similar to "Stop the Bleed" but a more advanced process,” said Lieutenant Mike Krupinsky, the medical officer with the Wallingford Fire Department
The tourniquet devices that are used in trauma centers will now be implemented by the team in Wallingford on calls when needed.
“Traditional tourniquets can only stop the bleeding in your extremities, in your legs and arms -- this is going to go to the abdominal area and shut down the blood supply to your pelvis, the area where it’s hard to control bleeding,” said Krupinsky.
The new Abdominal Junctional Aortic Tourniquets are made by a company called Compression Works and the program is in collaboration with Hartford Healthcare.
"We use localized tourniquets, we use wound packing, and manual pressure, but when they’re not working, this allows us to shut down a larger area,” said Bob Huebner, the director of training for Compression Works and a volunteer firefighter. “There are patients we can help now that we’ve never been able to help before.”
“This is another tool in our toolbox for us to manage trauma medicine in the field,” Krupinsky said.
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