Our military medics in Afghanistan, saw a problem with the severe blood loss of the Afghani military and police. Putting their talents together they have devised an inexpensive piece of kit. Yes the good old tourniquet. Despised by many, yet it has saved countless lives over the years. This article by Tobi Cohen of Canadian Press sums it all up.
By Tobi Cohen, The Canadian Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canadian Forces medical mentors are hoping a simple contraption they've created will help save the lives of seriously injured Afghan soldiers and police officers who are dying in large numbers compared to coalition troops, often because they haven't got the tools needed to handle a medical emergency.
It all started in February, just weeks after the latest batch of Canadian troops arrived in Kandahar. An Afghan soldier accidentally set off a rocket-propelled grenade inside a bunker at a base in Zhari district while cleaning his weapon following a patrol.
Three of the four soldiers who died that day bled out because they didn't have tourniquets, a simple device used to cut off circulation to an injured limb, effectively stopping the bleeding.
While tourniquets are controversial, even in western countries, as they can lead to loss of limb if kept on too long, they're considered essential on the battlefield.
I was pretty pissed off about it, said Capt. Mike McBride, a member of Canada's Operational Mentor and Liaison Team who is helping to train Afghan medics as well as infantrymen in tactical first aid.
Most of us are carrying two, three, four (tourniquets) with us in our kit. These poor guys didn't have any. They had a rifle and there was no way for them to make an expedient tourniquet. It just wasn't in their training.
By the time Canadian soldiers arrived on scene there was little they could do.
Massive injuries like that, it doesn't take long for someone to bleed out, McBride said.
Following the incident, McBride's medical team looked into the cost of acquiring Canadian army-issued tourniquets, enough for the brigade of 3,900 plus training stock, but at $33 apiece, they had to come up with a less expensive alternative.
Nobody was going to come up with (the money). We decided to design our own and see if we could get them manufactured in Kandahar City, he said.
It covers a lot of bases. One, it saves lives, and two, it pumps some money into the local economy.
The medics reviewed the types of materials available in Kandahar, consulted with a materials technician and parachute riggers and determined it would be possible to produce a simple tourniquet locally.
It consists of a piece of army green nylon webbing with two loops sewn in using high quality thread. It's wrapped around the limb above the wound, McBride and a colleague demonstrated, and is tightened using a section of a C7 rifle cleaning rod which acts as a windlass. It costs a mere $3.
The design was finalized in April and an initial production run of 100 tourniquets was introduced to the first aid training program.
About 1,900 of them have already been distributed among Afghan soldiers and police who are being mentored by Canadians and there are some 8,000 in the pipeline. McBride is hoping the project will be extended throughout the Afghan security force.
The Canadian tourniquets also come with a simple pictorial instruction chart and practical training session.
We wanted to make it very simple. Pictures work well for these guys because literacy is a huge issue, McBride said.
We actually put them on the clock and the goal is to get it done in 30 seconds or less to save the limb.
In the middle of a firefight, McBride said that's about as much time a soldier has to save an injured comrade from bleeding to death before he has to pick up his rifle and continue fighting the enemy.
It's amazing what a bag of Jolly Ranchers will do, he said. There's prizes for the top student of the morning. They're very competitive once you get them spooled up.
Using photographs of a western model as opposed to an Afghan for the instruction sheet was also a conscious decision, McBride said.
If Afghans see coalition forces using the tourniquets, they're more likely to use the same piece of equipment.
They're looking for role models, he said. It's funny. They try to emulate us. If they see something that we think is cool, they think it's cool too.
Training the Afghan police and army so they can take over responsibility for the country's security is key to Canada's 2011 combat exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Soldiers receive three days of basic medical skills training and the Afghan medics get three weeks of first aid training aimed at bringing them to combat life saver standard.
McBride's team mentors a company of about 72 medics who will accompany infantry patrols much the same way Canadian medics do.
While the Afghan army's medical capabilities have increased incredibly, since McBride's team began working with them, he said they continue to rely heavily on their mentors for air lifts and advanced medical care.
Properly training intensive care nurses and trauma surgeons will take years, he said, noting Canada does seem to have a reasonable plan in place to get the Afghan security force to where it needs to be.
Still, he believes a major impediment to the process, at least from his perspective as a medical mentor with 33 years of experience and seven overseas operations under his belt, is Canada's six-month rotation.
There's a lot of turmoil in their life and we keep switching up mentors, he said, noting a nine-month rotation would make more sense.
Socialization is a huge part of being a mentor and it takes a couple of months to get into their head space and timing and for them to get into yours.
A big WELL DONE or BRAVO ZULU to the men and women who devised this item of lifesaving equipment.
On another story just in............ 5 Taliban insurgents were killed by US unmanned weaponry...the bad news is apparently 2 hold Canadian Passports. If this true I wonder when our do gooders will want compensation for these terrorists. Five killed in al Qaeda safe house strike in South Waziristan
By Bill RoggioAugust 31, 2008 12:18 AM
The US has targeted another al Qaeda safe house in South Waziristan, according to reports from Pakistan.
At least five al Qaeda operatives were reported killed in the attack, which appears to have been launched by unmanned Predator aircraft hovering over the area. Two Canadians of Arab origin were among those killed. Two Punjabis were reported wounded.
The strike was targeted at the home of Noor Khan Wazir in the Korzai region near Wana. The home was recently rented to foreigners.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
