Soldiers in war zones to be given new bandages

[unhappycamper]

The Department of Defense on Wednesday announced it is buying 270,000 Combat Gauze bandages and 17,700 WoundStat units for troops downrange/Illustration courtesy of TraumaCure Inc.


Soldiers in war zones to be given new bandages
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, October 17, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — All soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan will get new bandages to treat life-threatening bleeding, replacing the "hemcon" bandages they use now.

The Army has ordered more than 270,000 packages of Quik-Clot Combat Gauze and 17,700 packages of WoundStat, said Lt. Col. Sean Morgan of the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army.

Combat Gauze, made by Z-Medica Corp. in Wallingford, Conn, is gauze with a hemostatic agent while WoundStat, made by TraumaCure in Bethesda, Md., is a granular substance meant to mix with blood to form a seal over wounds.

The Army plans for every soldier to have a package of Combat Gauze while every combat lifesaver issued a combat lifesaver bag will have three packages of Combat Gauze, and all combat medics will have three packages of Combat Gauze and two of WoundStat, Army officials said.

Morgan said the hemostatic agents would be in Qatar by Nov. 30, but he could not say when all troops in Iraq and Afghanistan would have them.


Article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58193

[LiberalEsto]

1. Why don't they just bring the soldiers home?

Ending the Iraq occupation would prevent life-threatening bleeding even more efficiently.