# Medical clamp inspired by hair clip quickly stems flood of blood



## PMedMoe (3 Apr 2012)

Posted here as one of the inventors (and investors) is a retired CF doctor.

Article Link

Dr. Dennis Filips saw his share of blood and guts in the operating rooms during three tours in Afghanistan as a trauma surgeon.

But only after he retired from the Canadian Navy in 2008 and worked under contract to teach army medics in field operations at CFB Suffield in southeastern Alberta did the "light bulb" come on about how hard it was to stop bleeding — the single largest cause of preventable trauma death.

Inspired by a simple hair clip, Filips used his surgical knowledge to design a clamping device which stops bleeding from wounds within seconds.

His Innovative Trauma Care (ITC) firm based at the Edmonton Research Park aims to launch the device later this year to hospitals, ambulances and the military in Canada, the U.S. and even Australia and New Zealand.

ITC is a finalist in the TEC Edmonton Venture Prize competition on April 26. And last week Filips won the top innovator award at the Life Science and health care Ventures Summit in New York hosted by venture capital funds.

Filips says the $65 device could save thousands of lives and represents a global "billion-dollar opportunity" for his fledgling company.

More at link


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## Brasidas (4 Apr 2012)

Some sort of Israeli bandage equivalent?


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## PMedMoe (4 Apr 2012)

Brasidas said:
			
		

> Some sort of Israeli bandage equivalent?



Well, sort of, kind of, except that this is an actual clamp, not a bandage.


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## RubberTree (8 Apr 2012)

Video available here : http://www.innovativetraumacare.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46&Itemid=53

I'm unconvinced that this has any advantage over the CAT that is currently being used. With the dustoff response times being (generally) very quick, there is little risk in losing limbs due to the proper application of the CAT. Its a nifty gadget, good for small wounds, but in the end I think it would just be another piece of kit to carry when we already have one that does the job.
My  :2c:
RT


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## dale622 (8 Apr 2012)

If you are comparing this to a tourniquet. You missed the point.  :


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## cupper (8 Apr 2012)

A simple neat idea.

What came across in my mind was that in a pinch, you could use a couple of large binder clips to close the wound and duct tape to hold it in place.

I like the fact that they use the needle points to hold it all in place to prevent slippage.


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## Snaketnk (8 Apr 2012)

Seems like it would be too painful to self apply... It hurts to just watch the animation and imagining it done to my skin.

I'm not sure what kind of wound would be better treated by this than a tourniquet though.


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## Maxadia (8 Apr 2012)

All the more reason to have people like this develop something like this. 

I, for one, don't have the medical expertise to back up one or the other.


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## Journeyman (8 Apr 2012)

Well thankfully we have anonymous internet posters, otherwise we'd be stuck relying on the views of a _mere_ trauma surgeon with three Afghan tours.   :nod:


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## PuckChaser (8 Apr 2012)

I guess he's above having to listen to constructive criticism from the people who would have to use this device in places other than an operating room at Role 3.  :


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## Journeyman (8 Apr 2012)

I must have missed the constructive criticism; I just saw "what's the difference between this and a tourniquet, except this is _much_ heavier?"


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## PuckChaser (8 Apr 2012)

You didn't even give the thread 10 responses before dropping a one-liner.

Anyways: I see this as a one-trick pony for small shrapnel/bullet wounds. Sure it may work great in an operating room, but lining up a clamp when you can throw a quick torniquet on seems odd. You'll need to carry the torniquets anyways, as this will be useless for any sort of amputation unless you're gonna try to start stretching skin over a stump. For open pneumothorax, whats the advantage of this as opposed to the current intervention of HALO dressings to seal and then needle decompress? 

I'd agree with Snaketnk WRT the painful to self-apply... I'm not gonna try to decompress my own chest, and torniquets are painful enough without jabbing 6 needles into my arm. People will do amazing things to save their own lives, but you can't train with this thing, the first time someone is gonna put it on, they'll need it and that's not the right time to read directions.


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## dale622 (8 Apr 2012)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> You didn't even give the thread 10 responses before dropping a one-liner.
> 
> Anyways: I see this as a one-trick pony for small shrapnel/bullet wounds. Sure it may work great in an operating room, but lining up a clamp when you can throw a quick torniquet on seems odd. You'll need to carry the torniquets anyways, as this will be useless for any sort of amputation unless you're gonna try to start stretching skin over a stump. For open pneumothorax, whats the advantage of this as opposed to the current intervention of HALO dressings to seal and then needle decompress?
> 
> I'd agree with Snaketnk WRT the painful to self-apply... I'm not gonna try to decompress my own chest, and torniquets are painful enough without jabbing 6 needles into my arm. People will do amazing things to save their own lives, but you can't train with this thing, the first time someone is gonna put it on, they'll need it and that's not the right time to read directions.



http://www.edmontonjournal.com/health/Doctor+believes+clamping+device+will+save+thousands+wounded+video/6399955/story.html#ooid=VsYmJkNDp3Li9oYDNfztZ825Q9pRcJTk

I see this taking the place of quick clot, stitches, and wound packing and not a tourniquet. I can't see a 5cm clip being hugely effective on a severed limb. I do however see it very effective in any other type of open wound with large amounts of blood loss. This device allows blood to continue it's flow the the rest of the limb unlike a tourniquet where at times a full amputation may be required after application.

The training aid possibilities could be a number of things. A few examples are shown in the video.

I do agree it would a bit painful to self apply... But there isn't much that doesn't hurt in that instance.

I'm not going to get into a pi##ing match over experiences. I used to work a bit of medical civvy side.


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## medicineman (8 Apr 2012)

If you're worried about the pain of self application, don't - it's going in so close to the wound site that the already aggravated pain nerves there aren't really going to register it.  In fact, I'm willing to bet it would hurt a lot less than me stuffing gauze into the wound or reefing on a CAT.  As for the "it might work well in the OR" crowd, back in the Second World War and Korean War and even into Vietnam, medics used to invasively clamp off bleeders with hemostats - a sometimes time consuming and extremely painful maneuver on an artery, since a large nerve often travels in tandem and they often retract if completely severed.  I don't see it as being meant to replace tourniquets, HALO dressings and such, but to be used in isolated limb wounds without amputation or in some seriously bleeding scalp wounds.  I also see it as a useful tool for civilian ambulance services that are quite against using tourniquets in the field for alot of major bleeding wounds - something like this will allow for collateral circulation to take over and reduce tissue damage below the TK site.

MM


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## Maxadia (8 Apr 2012)

x3 on allowing the blood to flow through the body while closing the wound.  Makes perfect sense to me.  I've done a Wilderness and Remote First Aid course, and I would love to have some of these on hand for when I'm in the back country 4x4ing with a group in case it's needed.


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## mariomike (8 Apr 2012)

medicineman said:
			
		

> I also see it as a useful tool for civilian ambulance services that are quite against using tourniquets in the field for alot of major bleeding wounds - something like this will allow for collateral circulation to take over and reduce tissue damage below the TK site.



They started using tourniquets more in the last decade.


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