First Aid

Curious as to why on the Quikclot. What about it requires training, and who would provide it to us non-military types? I have a similar product, Celox.

QuikClot’s main component material is called an adsorbent, it is actually a synthetic derivative of volcanic rock. It has many pores, internal and external, which capture and hold the water molecules that make up the majority of the blood. The ability to attract and hold the water molecules is due to electrostatic forces that are present in the pores of QuikClot material when it is dry and are liberated when the QuikClot is saturated. These are the same types of forces that cause static cling, but in the formulation of QuikClot, they are much stronger. Water molecules are held very strongly.

The clotting factors, proteins in the blood, and the cellular components of the blood are not attracted nor held by the QuikClot, because they are simply too big to fit in the pore structure of the QuikClot material. This leaves them free to do their work at the wound site.

The adsorption of water into the QuikClot granules can cause an instantaneous release of heat, called an exothermic reaction. The release of heat stops when the pores of the QuikClot become filled, which due to QuikClot’s strong attraction for water, is only a second or two.

The heat is generated by a phenomenon called the Heat of Adsorption. The electrostatic charge in each pore of the QuikClot, which attracts the water molecules, is released when the pore is filled. This liberated energy is in the form of heat.

Following the QuikClot package instructions avoids or minimizes the effects of exothermic reaction. It is important to use just enough QuikClot to stop the bleeding that is present. Dry QuikClot granules should be brushed away from the top of the wound area before applying irrigation solution. When removing QuikClot from a wound, the volume of water used to irrigate should always be larger than the volume of QuikClot. Flooding the QuikClot granules rather than slowly applying small streams of irrigation solution minimizes the heat produced.

I wouldn't (and haven't) hesitate (d) using QickClot under appropriate conditions, e.g., as cited by TacMedic above. Powder in the eyes is annoying...

So to answer your question about cost Tim, volcanic rock is cheaper than eating a metric ton of shrimp to harvest their exo-skeleton to make a 10 gram packet of CELOX. ;)
 
Yes, it only took another war and 40 years to get it updated. There's some valuable information based on contemporary practice although some topics are even now becoming a little dated. Just skip over the first section of mutual admiration...
 
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