How haemostatic gauzes helped Royal Marine treat injured comrades

11 October 2018 10:56

A former Royal Marine Commando has explained how he managed treat injured fellow servicemen during his tour of Afghanistan.

Robert Jacomb recounted 24 hours of his service where he managed to stabilise several of his colleagues.

Jacomb had to lead patrols to uncover improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and safely guide troops across treacherous terrain, as well as engaging in firefights with the Taliban.

It was in 2011 that former marine Jacomb was caught in the thick of two incidents in just under 24 hours. While scouring the area with a metal detector, a fellow patrol nearby was hit by a bomb resulting in multiple casualties. While two men’s lives were lost from the blast, former marine Jacomb was able to speedily lead his team to the affected area to help any survivors.

One of the leading causes of preventable battlefield death is blood loss from extremity wounds. Traditionally, the lightweight medical kits supplied to those on operation just contained pressure dressings, which depending on the severity of the wound could be applied by the injured soldier or marine themselves.

Medical kits have since evolved and now feature a haemostatic gauze like Celox, which can treat life-threatening bleeding fast, without the need for a tourniquet. Celox chitosan-coated gauze creates a gel-like plug independently of the body’s natural clotting mechanism, that seals over the point of bleeding and stops further blood loss.

Time is critical when treating injuries in the field and on dangerous mission’s teams need to be equipped with the most effective tools and technologies, like Celox Rapid.

The minimal application time required when applying Celox Rapid makes it possible for comrades to attend to multiple people in a short and tight time-span. Taking only 60 seconds compression, or until bleeding stops.

Former marine Jacomb was able to stop the heavy bleeding of his injured comrades and attempt to stabilise the casualties long enough for a helicopter to arrive and evacuate them.