TAM,The Annoyed Man wrote:Old news, actually. These have been around for a few years now. When I took my Medic 1 class from LoneStar Medics, they were leery of using these things, partly because it involves inserting a foreign object into the wound, which transcends what a non-professional is permitted to do by law. Also, sometimes packing the wound can be the wrong thing to do, and a tourniquet or direct pressure is the better alternative in a case like that. If you inject a syringe full of these things into a gunshot wound, then the trauma care team at the hospital end has to then go back into that wound and explore it make sure that all the wound packing has been removed before they can close it up, or place a drain in it, etc. It’s not just knowing when to use the XSTAT, but also knowing where it can be used, and where not. So I would not want someone sticking one of those into me if they did not have an “MD” after their name. Just slap on a tourniquet, pressure dressing, or a chest seal, and get me to a doctor.
What is the law that prohibits a non-medical professional from packing a wound on a trauma victim? I would think the Good Samaritan law would cover that. Not saying you're wrong, just that I haven't heard that before.
Also, the wound will need to be debrided anyway since it's a penetrating trauma. I'm not familiar with the XSTAT, but the article says the little sponges have a material that shows up on X-ray (radio-opaque marker, like the little blue stripe on the Quickclot Combat Gauze).