To be clear: that’s basically a myth. While it’s often repeated and sounds logical - they’re the right shape, size and made to absorb blood - they’re not the right solution for that particular job.
Tl;dr: tampons only absorb about 10ml of blood and don’t really stop the actual bleeding by cutting off the source. You’re better off using a tourniquet, packing the wound with hemostatic dressing, regular gauze or even a shirt or other clothing. Those have a better chance of actually providing enough force to actually plug the artery.
Obviously. But you want to be sure there’s someone left to save before that medic does show up. Which might be a while.
In first aid, doing the wrong thing can be quite detrimental. So people should at least be aware that there’s better options at hand even if they don’t have an actual tourniquet or other medical supplies.
To be clear: that’s basically a myth. While it’s often repeated and sounds logical - they’re the right shape, size and made to absorb blood - they’re not the right solution for that particular job.
https://emj.bmj.com/content/35/8/516.responses
Tl;dr: tampons only absorb about 10ml of blood and don’t really stop the actual bleeding by cutting off the source. You’re better off using a tourniquet, packing the wound with hemostatic dressing, regular gauze or even a shirt or other clothing. Those have a better chance of actually providing enough force to actually plug the artery.
I don’t think anyone was suggesting medics jam one in a bullet tract and be like, “go home, boys. Our job is done”
Obviously. But you want to be sure there’s someone left to save before that medic does show up. Which might be a while.
In first aid, doing the wrong thing can be quite detrimental. So people should at least be aware that there’s better options at hand even if they don’t have an actual tourniquet or other medical supplies.