How A Simple New Invention Seals A Gunshot Wound In 15 Seconds
An Oregon startup has developed a pocket-size device that uses tiny sponges to stop bleeding fast.
Popular Science, Rose Pastore, Popular Science, 3 February 2014 (hat tip: NC)
The team’s early efforts were inspired by Fix-a-Flat foam for repairing tires. “That’s what we pictured as the perfect solution: something you could spray in, it would expand, and bleeding stops,” says Steinbaugh. “But we found that blood pressure is so high, blood would wash the foam right out.”
So the team tried a new idea: sponges. They bought some ordinary sponges from a hardware store and cut them into 1-centimeter circles, a size and shape they chose on a whim but later would discover were ideal for filling wounds. Then, they injected the bits of sponge into an animal injury. “The bleeding stopped,” says Steinbaugh. “Our eyes lit up. We knew we were onto something.” After seeing early prototypes, the U.S. Army gave the team $5 million to develop a finished product.
Obviously, shot placement is an issue.
On a different subject, I was out of town last week, and distracted by ice in any case. I have been slow posting, but that is in part because I have been trying to catch up and fill out a number of book reviews.
2 comments:
I saw that article and it has some real applications it seems. Genius.
Pioneer: I agree.
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