Quick Clot: A Necessity or Overkill?

[4ester]

Like most of you I am always looking for ways to lighten my pack.

I was going through my medical kit and one item that I question is quick clot. Is it truly a necessity or overkill?

If it changes anything, I rarely hunt alone more then 4-5 miles from the truck, I do not carry a spot or inreach. We do typically have cell service on most of the ridges and peaks. The guy I typically hunt with also packs quick clot.

I do carry the quick clot sport , which I believe is a little lighter. Another option: Could I possibly take a partial pack? Maybe put it in a small vacuum sealed bag?

Looking for opinions and/or other solutions.

Matt


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[Yellowknife]

How much does it weigh? An oz? Those shrink wrapped "sport" versions are tiny.

For me, I like it. Although "holding pressure" is a dang good way of stopping bleeding, it requires at least one hand and sometimes two. If I'm alone (which is typical when hunting for me), that could be tough, so I view it as a way buying time and potentially freeing up my hands on a bad cut or hole. Since we are hunters, we play with lots of sharp things, so I like to have it.

I'm potentially biased though in that much of my field time is completely off the road system and help might be further out. As such, I often carry the full "Trauma Pak" which is waterproof and about 4.4 oz. It has gauze and assorted other stuff to stop heavy bleeders. I like it in that it's completely contained, and as long as the seal isn't broken I know exactly what is in there. I also usually keep it in an outside pack pocket where I can get to it with one hand. 4.4 oz is nothing to worry about. For shorter day hikes, etc, it's usually just a Sport tucked in with my bandaids.

Trauma Pak with QuikClot(R) - Adventure(R) Medical Kits - First Aid Kits and Survival Gear

 

[Beendare]

FWIW, I use the big bandages with the clotting agent [from my wife a nurse] They aren't bulky at all.

 

[LongWayAround]

I carry quick clot, for it's size and weight, I can't imagine leaving it out.

I used a packet of it two weeks ago. My dog hurdled some deadfall but didn't quite clear it. The little guy tore a hole in his thigh about the size of a golf ball. The vet later said that she removed bark from deep in his muscle in two spots.

When he yelped, I saw blood on his foot. I flipped him over and saw the hole. It wasn't bleeding as much as I expected but it was the best thing I had in me first aid kit to clot the wound.

 

[Ross]

Keep it could be a life saver. Last fall buddy stuck knife deep in thigh after shooting buck. We were way back. That thing worked magic on a potentially bad situation. For the weight penalty well worth it

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Can't say I have ever carried it.....or needed it. To each their own.

Esse quam videri

 

[twall13]

Most of the things that make my pack are things I've found I use almost every trip, otherwise they stop going with me. Quick clot is one of the few items I carry and hope to never have to use. It's worth the weight to me.

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[twall13]

I will say I've switched over to the quick clot gauze rather than the powder. This is what I use and 2 gauze pads weigh about 0.6 Oz.

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[muddydogs]

It doesn't matter how many people are around or how much communication you have if your bleeding out there going to do very little for you. I used to carry quikclot in my truck and ATV unit I almost got shot, I was standing next to my ATV when it happened in fact the old Kawasaki took the shot instead of me, put the incident got me thinking about what if's and I realized that having it in my pack was a better plan.

 

[Pm1176]

I always carry Quit Clot and a CAT tourniquet. In the rare occasion that you trip and fall and get stabbed with a branch on a windfall, or slice yourself bad on shale, etc..... the light weight of these two items will be worth their weight to save your life. Prepare for the worst- hope for the best. Remember, your femoral artery is not that deep and bleeding out is extremely fast when that artery takes a hit.


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[Brendan]

It's sort of like a pistol or bear spray. It's all overkill until you actually need it

 

[gumbl3]

There's some pretty small packaged hemostatic agents these days, Quik Clot is just one manufacturer

I keep Israeli bandages around my house and truck, I'm a big fan of them over quik clot, you may want to check them out, can serve several more uses than hemostatic gauze or pad

 

[Low_Sky]

+1 for Israeli bandages. -1 for tourniquets unless you can be in trauma center in an hour or the limb is already a total loss. Land mines in the mountains where you hunt? Bring the tourniquets.


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[5MilesBack]

My Quickclot package is so small, I don't even think about it. But I see it in there every time I open my first aid pouch. I'd keep it. Working with knives, scalpels (Havalon), broadheads, and deadfall, bleeding isn't just a slight chance.......it's a probability. I'm always bleeding from some thing out there on an elk hunt, but thank goodness it's never been life threatening bleeding.

As with anything......it's overkill if you never need it, but it's a necessity when you do need it.

 

[mrbillbrown]

We use the quick clot gauze version at work. Lightweight and works like a champ. I can't imagine heading up the hill without it.

 

[LBFowler]

Can't say I have ever carried it.....or needed it. To each their own.

I've never need a seatbelt, or car insurance.

When there are folks wandering around with guns, I like to be able to treat gunshot wounds. I've hunted with people (past tense) that flagged me with their muzzle several times in a day, not everyone out there is going to be safe.

+1 for Israeli bandages. -1 for tourniquets unless you can be in trauma center in an hour or the limb is already a total loss. Land mines in the mountains where you hunt? Bring the tourniquets.

This is conventional wisdom that is not reflected by reality; find a combat medic or Corpsman who has served recently and ask about tourniquets. TQs are being used more and more frequently, applied earlier, and left on for longer periods with only positive results, 8-12 hours is not an unreasonable time to leave a TQ on if it is called for, and the last Corpsman I talked to said he had only been made aware of ONE case of amputation being needed as a result of non-improvised TQ use in recent practice, and that was from a particular brand of TQ that was already criticized by the medical community, and improperly applied to boot.
Somehow the medical guidelines (which often pertain to TQs used in hospitals, which are far more effective at completely stopping blood flow then field use ones) have been interpreted by many to indicate that it is preferable to bleed to death then to lose a limb. Talking to someone in medical school I was told that TQs are often left on by doctors for far longer then the guidelines suggest.

 

[Elkfitness]

My Quickclot package is so small, I don't even think about it. But I see it in there every time I open my first aid pouch. I'd keep it. Working with knives, scalpels (Havalon), broadheads, and deadfall, bleeding isn't just a slight chance.......it's a probability. I'm always bleeding from some thing out there on an elk hunt, but thank goodness it's never been life threatening bleeding.

As with anything......it's overkill if you never need it, but it's a necessity when you do need it.

This!

 

[Mike7]

I am all about being prepared and I probably/admittedly overpack. But each of us has to tailor our kit to the situation at hand and make judgements after weighing the available information. Having used Quickclot in a military setting, I don't take it with me on lower 48 solo backcountry trips lasting the usual 3-4 days. I think that Yellowknife makes the best points above about reasons to carry Quickclot in a non-combat situation, because of his special set of circumstances that most of us don't experience.

For every person that carries Quickclot, then you should definitely also consider carrying satellite communication of some sort, because that is far, far more likely to save your life. Also, if you are worried about impaling yourself on a stob, then you should probably learn how to do needle thoracotomy on yourself to relieve a tension pneumothorax, which will kill you prior to most extremity and abdominal wound related shock.

If you sever a large vessel like the femoral artery or an intra-abdominal or intrathoracic blood vessel, then you are likely dead. Tourniquets, Quickclot, etc. is all useless then.

Here is annecdotal food for thought when weighing the risks and benefits of various items in your medical kit. After having worked in ERs, urgent cares, and rural & suburban clinics since 1996 (and in the military medical setting caring for thousands of Marines in field environments for years), I have never needed a wound clotting product or seen it be the reason someone's life was saved.
*Note: if someone in your backcounrty hunting party is on chronic blood thinner treatment, then that has to be weighted significantly in your decision.

 

[Mike7]

I believe that there are less tourniquet related injuries now, because of improved training in proper use since about 2005 in the military. And yes, you can fix a limb, but you can't fix dead.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

I've never need a seatbelt, or car insurance.

When there are folks wandering around with guns, I like to be able to treat gunshot wounds. I've hunted with people (past tense) that flagged me with their muzzle several times in a day, not everyone out there is going to be safe.

I wonder how wounds were treated before quick clot became commercially available?