Use of Advanced Bleeding Control Mechanisms in Athletic Training: A Shift in the Thought Process of Prehospital Care—Part 1: Tourniquets

Abstract

Two other competencies(Table 1), although not necessarily new to the list ofimmediate emergency management care skills, do requirefurther examination based on the current available scienceand standard of care in prehospital medicine. The purposeof this column is to provide athletic training educators(ATE) with evidence regarding the use of tourniquets in theprehospital setting as well as to be a resource on how toteach the management of external hemorrhage usingtourniquets.Trauma resulting in disruption of soft tissue is classified asan open or closed wound, and any significant loss ofintravascular volume may lead sequentially to hemodynam-ic instability, decreased tissue perfusion, cellular hypoxia,organ damage, and death.