Quick Clot?

[Sarge47]

My wife had the following come up on one of her forums, does anybody know anything about it?

"Sir;
I try to keep a gun shot trauma kit with my shooting range supplies; when I was ordering some new medical supplies from North American Rescue I was informed that the public can no longer purchase Quikclot ACS+ or any other such hemostatic from them. The operator proceeded to tell me that the [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating these products mid-May because "they go inside the human body." I was able to order some of my other products in the "scrape and light cut" size" but none of the larger quantity hemostatics. Perhaps some other SurvivalBlog readers might have some insight into this situation and can offer some advice. Regards, - "Pop N Fresh"
JWR Replies: That is a most unfortunate development.Much like last year, when Polar Pure iodine crystals were taken off the market, it sounds like another window of opportunity is closing. I strongly encourage readers to stock up on Celox and QuikClot while there is still some remaining inventory available from individual retailers. Several of our loyal advertisers-- including Safecastle and Ready Made Resources--carry these products, and probably still have some left on hand."

Also what is the shelf life of Quick Clot, assuming it has one?

[crashdive123]

Sarge - I picked some up from here. It has a shlef life of three years. (Hope I have to throw it out in three years and buy some more)

[Pal334]

Seems to be some variance on availability.Here is an excerpt from one site:http://practicaltrauma.com/qc.shtml


Regulations for purchasing Quikclot products require that you must:

1) Have a minimum of 40 hours of basic American Red Cross training equivalent.


I have seen packets that were 2-4 years old being issued and or exchanged by people as their units rotated. However, I have no authoratative knowledge of actual expiration.
The stuff does work great. I would not use it on any "relatively minor" or non- life threatening wound. But have seen it work "miracles " on several open wounds.

[Ken]

Sarge - I picked some up from here. It has a shlef life of three years. (Hope I have to throw it out in three years and buy some more)

Yep. Everything Crash said. You should also think about some of these, too: http://safezonellc.com/moistburn.html

[SARKY]

REI still carries it and it is available through Adventure Medical Kits.
www.adventuremedicalkits.com
www.refillyourkit.com

[Rick]

I don't think there is any validity to the FDA story. There have been no product alerts from distributors on it and the manufacturer web sites don't list it.

Here is a post I did a while back on Ken's Tackle Box First Aid Kit thread:

CELOX is another good choice, GW. TraumaDEX, Quikclot, CELOX and HemCon all stem the flow of arterial blood. That could be a life saver under the right circumstance.

CELOX is manufactured in the UK and is used by some US Forces. It is a granulated product that is poured into the wound. The civilian version comes packaged in 15 gram or 35 gram pouches. It has a shelf life of 3 years.

TraumaDEX is based in the US. It is also a powder/granulated type product. Like CELOX, it is poured directly into the wound. It is available to US military but I don't know who is currently using it. It is not packaged for civilian use. It is used widely by EMS and in surgical procedures. It is packaged in 2 gram and 10 gram applicators. Also under the name of Bleed-X. TraumaDEX is only available by Rx while Bleed-X is available over the counter. I don't know why one is by prescription and the other is not. I don't know what the shelf life is either.

HemCon is another US based company. The product was developed and is in use by US forces as well as British forces. They have a lot of different products from topical bandages to products that are stuffed into the wound like the others. All work on the same principles and are used in severe bleeding. There is even a dental product used for wound dressing. To my knowledge, Hemcon is packaged for EMT/Medical institution use. I'm not aware of a civilian product although they do make it available for private label so there may be something out there under a different name. I'm not aware of it being used by US forces either. It also has a 3 year shelf life.

Quikclot is located in the US and is used by the Navy, Coast Guard, Army, and Air Force as well as the Marines. It comes in a sponge format that is applied directly to the injury. There are several varieties but the most common civilian use is a 25 gram and 50 gram packet. It has a shelf life of 3 years.

I don't know which is the best. After quite a bit of study, I went with Quikclot because 1) It's a US based company, 2) They offer larger package sizes and I thought this might be a case where more is better and 3) they have a long history and a lot of practical, military use.

In the end, my guess is it's a lot like the best survival knife. The best hemostatic agent is the one you have with you when you need it.

If you don't carry a hemostatic agent or haven't been aware of them, it's something you might consider. This is one item that could save your life.

[tacmedic]

I would recommend the Quikclot as well, for one reason. The fact that it comes in a sponge form. Having used the powdered form before it has one potential problem. If you are using it when there is a breeze or even when you just open the package the powder can fly everywhere. These products generate heat when they come in contact with liquids, and if the powder gets in your eyes it can cause some nasty burns. I have seen pics of medics in the sand box that have had this exact thing happen to them. Doesn't look like fun. The sponge form of Quikclot is a different chemical and doesn't have this problem.

[Gray Wolf]

Celox comes in Gauze also. After using Celox, and seeing for myself the results, and not having to worry about getting burned by it, I'm sticking with Celox. I checked with Sam Medical and they didn't know about any warnings.

Celox™ is easy to use (just pour, pack and apply pressure), very safe and extremely effective. When mixed with blood, Celox™ forms a gel like clot in 30 seconds. This clotting action is independent of the bodies normal clotting processes. Celox’s™ clotting ability has been proven to work in the presence of common anti-coagulants such as warfarin.

In clinical tests by the US marines, Celox™ was the only product to give 100% survival. It gave robust, reliable clotting with no rebleeding**. Celox’s™ safety has been tested to the intense class 3 CE mark standards. Celox™ is made with chitosan. Chitosan is broken down in the body by lysozyme, a human enzyme, to leave glucosamine, a sugar which is normally found in the body***.

[justinjedlawton]

they can try to beat us but we know more you can use ground dried Cayenne peeper for clotting gunshot wounds i work personal security so i have seen this altho it makes a mess and sting "alittle"

[crashdive123]

Hey justinjedlawton - how about heading on over to the Introduction section and tell us a bit about yourself. Thanks. http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

[Rick]

And I'd like to see your references for ground cayenne pepper. If it really were that easy the major drug companies would be all over it.

[catfish10101]

Supposedly 3 to 4 years (as i read the expiration date on the packages i have at home)...but i don't believe that.
I am sure it would still do the job well past 4 years with the way it is sealed. We had stuff in the military with expiration dates from WWII, and everything still functioned or tasted okay.

In fact, expiration dates and their actual validity are a big myth, worth doing a thread on.

"WWII"........."tasted ok" ???????? You are one brave soul to try that!!!!!!

Being a Medical First Responder in the Volunteer Fire Department, we get to provide assistance to those in need, and have a medical director so we can pack our kits with all the good stuff and not have to worry about whether it's sold to the GP or not. I keep a kit for calls (one in each vehicle), and a kit for the house.

[crashdive123]

Brave ?

lol...we just did not really have a choice.

Ain't that the truth.

Jonesy, what's for lunch?
Umm, err - got these rations over here.
Cool - pass em out.

Date on packaging - 1947 (this was in 1978). Food tasted fine - the Lucky Strikes were a bit stale though.

[crashdive123]

I think the strangest (or worst) I saw (and may have eaten) was a case of steaks. We were doing a maintenance period along side the USS Proteus (submarine tender). For older submarines, stores (food and supplies) were loaded one case at a time (long line of sailors passing cases of food by hand from the Proteus to the submarine. All of the cases of meat had a date stamp on them. One case had been sitting in the freezer since before the start of WWII. Not sure if it ever got served, but with the cooks that we had at the time it wouldn't suprise me.

[Rick]

the Lucky Strikes were a bit stale though

L.S.M.F.T. - Lucky Strike Means Formerly Tobacco.

[loki]

My wife had the following come up on one of her forums, does anybody know anything about it?

"Sir;
I try to keep a gun shot trauma kit with my shooting range supplies; when I was ordering some new medical supplies from North American Rescue I was informed that the public can no longer purchase Quikclot ACS+ or any other such hemostatic from them. The operator proceeded to tell me that the [U.S.] Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began regulating these products mid-May because "they go inside the human body." I was able to order some of my other products in the "scrape and light cut" size" but none of the larger quantity hemostatics. Perhaps some other SurvivalBlog readers might have some insight into this situation and can offer some advice. Regards, - "Pop N Fresh"
JWR Replies: That is a most unfortunate development.Much like last year, when Polar Pure iodine crystals were taken off the market, it sounds like another window of opportunity is closing. I strongly encourage readers to stock up on Celox and QuikClot while there is still some remaining inventory available from individual retailers. Several of our loyal advertisers-- including Safecastle and Ready Made Resources--carry these products, and probably still have some left on hand."

Also what is the shelf life of Quick Clot, assuming it has one?

I know this is a little off topic but can you tell me how do you make your tags to other websites referring to the words in red?

[crashdive123]

Loki - I'll send you a pm with the information.

[Pilot Piotrowski]

Back to the subject, my friend who (I'm assuming) used quikclot in the forces told me that people who had shellfish allergies could not use it because it would cause the victim to have a severe allergic reaction. (I'm assuming it has some kind of shellfish..?)

He recommended Celox for my BOB FAK since there hasn't (to his knowledge) been any reports of allergic reaction.

I'm sure you can fin more info if you google it.

[Ken]

I have a very close friend who is both clumsy AND highly allergic to shellfish. He better not ever pi$$ me off......

[crashdive123]

Back to the subject, my friend who (I'm assuming) used quikclot in the forces told me that people who had shellfish allergies could not use it because it would cause the victim to have a severe allergic reaction. (I'm assuming it has some kind of shellfish..?)

He recommended Celox for my BOB FAK since there hasn't (to his knowledge) been any reports of allergic reaction.

I'm sure you can fin more info if you google it.

If you are able, please clarify this with your friend. I have read from multiple sources that there is almost no chance of alergic reaction. Maybe if he has a source or something.