Startup develops a syringe with tiny sponges that can stop bleeding fast

mashable.com

30 points·hippich··4 comments

The article doesn't mention this, but there are already similar products that quickly stop bleeding. The combat gauze QuikClot has been around since 2008 and contains a compound that quickly coagulates blood. The US Military uses it in Iraq & Afghanistan. Also, the foam pellets shown in the video won't replace gauze in all situations. You can see that syringe opening is fairly large and won't inject into wounds with small openings like those from shrapnel or small caliber bullets.

It's great to see people innovating to save lives but the article should mention competing products. Otherwise, this reads like an advertisement.

In the infantry, we stopped using QuikClot because of the permanent damage the chemical compounds do to tissue around wounds. Our medics carried it, but very rarely used it, and eventually stopped carrying it altogether.

" The device is best for wounds in areas where a tourniquet can't be placed, such as the groin or armpit. The downside, however, is that the device isn't intended for many areas of the body: the chest, abdomen, pelvis or tissue above the collarbone."

Seal the container. This is combat medic 101. Seal the container and move towards primary care. You can read about the context how this technology would work in "The Golden Hour" (Logar Province, Afghanistan, 2010) ~ http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2009/s2820327.htm

This technology will not work on head wounds.

good story, borked link, I tried this one: http://mashable.com/2015/12/11/xstat-device/

There is something even better than sponges - "How mini sponges could save lives on the battlefield " .

Its called "Not waging war at all".

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