MSgt Steven Holt, NRP, CCEMT-P 4326529 <div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;ve been following a couple of threads on a few webpages where members have been arguing about the use of tampons in combat situations. Specifically, one group claims to have used them to plug penetrating injuries (ie: GSW). The other side claims it never happened and is/was prohibited by policy. I never personally had to resort to it but we WERE trained during Combat Life Saver. I&#39;ve also been told by multiple combat medics they routinely carried them in their kits and used them when necessary (I carried a few in my CLS bag as well). Logic tells me, &quot;well, they are designed to absorb/stop blood flow so.....&quot; I was curious as to what the reality is. 2019-01-29T14:31:50-05:00 MSgt Steven Holt, NRP, CCEMT-P 4326529

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I&#39;ve been following a couple of threads on a few webpages where members have been arguing about the use of tampons in combat situations. Specifically, one group claims to have used them to plug penetrating injuries (ie: GSW). The other side claims it never happened and is/was prohibited by policy. I never personally had to resort to it but we WERE trained during Combat Life Saver. I&#39;ve also been told by multiple combat medics they routinely carried them in their kits and used them when necessary (I carried a few in my CLS bag as well). Logic tells me, &quot;well, they are designed to absorb/stop blood flow so.....&quot; I was curious as to what the reality is.

2019-01-29T14:31:50-05:00 2019-01-29T14:31:50-05:00 SGT Private RallyPoint Member 4326536

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>They are designed to absorb it, not stop it. Do you really think a GSW is a straight line that will be plugged by a tampon? Have you seen how much gauze you can shove into a a GSW? Short answer is, no, and if I saw any of my peers trying to use one for a traumatic injury, I would lose my mind.

2019-01-29T14:34:56-05:00 2019-01-29T14:34:56-05:00 SPC(P) Private RallyPoint Member 4326539

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Wounds can be packed with a mind boggling amount of Quick Clot gauze. The entire wound needs to be packed as deep and and compact as possible to stop or manage the bleeding until they can reach a surgeon. A tampon will absorb that blood but it has no clotting agent impregnated in it to stop or slow the hemorrhaging. It’s a novel idea, but i wouldn’t recommend it.

2019-01-29T14:38:49-05:00 2019-01-29T14:38:49-05:00 CPT Lawrence Cable 4326548

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>I was going to say it&#39;s a pretty standard substitute for a large trauma pad in the Rescue world, but I see you are a Paramedic and already know that fact. Wouldn&#39;t know why if would be against regulation, they are sanitary.

2019-01-29T14:42:37-05:00 2019-01-29T14:42:37-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 4326551

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>No this is a terrible idea. This was a frequent question in the CLS classes I taught. There are numerous reasons why this isn&#39;t a good idea. The first being that a tampon will do an inadequate job of packing the wound unless you either have a wound one inch deep or you stuff many tampons into the wound. We have much better supplies on hand.<br />Second, you could end up plugging the hole but not stopping the bleeding. Essentially, it&#39;s possible to stop the blood from spilling out of the body, but still bleeding out inside the body. Third, tourniquet is going to be a better solution for extremity wounds. They can be placed on for hours without any irreversible damage. Certainly long enough to get to a surgical treatment unless you&#39;re in an austere area with no medevac support. Any wounds to the torso, you wouldn&#39;t want to be putting little cotton chunks inside the cavity for the surgeon to find, and stuffing the wound isn&#39;t the right way to treat a chest or abdominal wound. <br />I know that there are more reasons and I&#39;m sure a few of my medic brethren will add to it.

2019-01-29T14:44:48-05:00 2019-01-29T14:44:48-05:00 CSM Michael Chavaree 4326561

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Not a good idea as already pointed out. Good dialogue though.

2019-01-29T14:51:39-05:00 2019-01-29T14:51:39-05:00 SGM Bill Frazer 4326573

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Never saw it used, have seen kotex used as hasty bandage with 100 mile an hour tape tho.

2019-01-29T15:00:16-05:00 2019-01-29T15:00:16-05:00 CSM Darieus ZaGara 4326584

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>No, they absorb, and if packed as bandages should be they would absorb more. Never saw it, never heard of it, would not have authorized it. Thank you for your service.

2019-01-29T15:08:06-05:00 2019-01-29T15:08:06-05:00 SPC Casey Ashfield 4326596

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Better than nothing. But plenty things are better than Kotex. For bullet and shrapnel wounds at least.

2019-01-29T15:16:43-05:00 2019-01-29T15:16:43-05:00 SPC Michael Dillon 4326620

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>They are good for nose bleeds.

2019-01-29T15:26:25-05:00 2019-01-29T15:26:25-05:00 Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS 4326661

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>A tampon is designed to absorb OUNCES. A GSW is bleeding PINTS. It is an inadequate tool for the proposed job. That&#39;s why things like QuikClot (Absorbent Hemostatic Agent) are issued.<br /><br />That said, you are better shoving a full gauze roll in the wound than a tampon. The goal is to apply pressure to help stop the bleeding (in addition to a tourniquet if able).

2019-01-29T15:41:02-05:00 2019-01-29T15:41:02-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 4328057

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>OMG here it comes. Tampons are not for GSW&#39;s or anything. The purpose of packing a wound is to compress the vessels. Leave the tampons for the females with all due respect!

2019-01-30T07:39:04-05:00 2019-01-30T07:39:04-05:00 TSgt Private RallyPoint Member 4328101

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Consider the size and amount of blood that they are designed to ABSORB. The surface area doesn’t begin to compare to that of a trauma dressing or combat gauze. In addition, they don’t contain any clotting agent, the added benefit of combat gauze. I have heard this in many SABC classes and just shake my head. I can only imagaine that misinformation such as this will continue to arise in AF classes as they are seeking to water down TCCC into 4 different levels of training. In a recent opinion, our personnel don’t go into combat and therefore should have a variable level of TCCC training that is proportional to their expectation of seeing combat. Uggh. There is surely a reason that we are looked upon by other branches as we are.

2019-01-30T08:08:30-05:00 2019-01-30T08:08:30-05:00 SSG Darrell Peters 4330303

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>As a Combat Medic I was issued Tampons to carry in my aid bag. An received a class on how to use them for a gunshot would depending on where the gun shot would was located. That is the issue when using them for gsw. Also if you have a MEDEVAC Helicopter in Route fine go for it. if not then you need to rethink how long am I going to have this patient and do I want to use a tampon for this gsw.

2019-01-30T23:14:35-05:00 2019-01-30T23:14:35-05:00 SSG Dave Johnston 4334545

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Even during the &quot;Cold War&quot; we used what was expedient in the field. I carried 2 M-3 Aid Bags and an M-5 Aid bag, and that was it while working out of a M-718, M-113A2 and the M-792. Did get lucky with one unit and was assigned an M-886. Still not much room to work and squat. So, yes &#39;Tampons&#39; and or &#39;Tampex&#39; with some rolls of Coban; both are easier to apply than your standard field dressing [6510-00-201-7435]. even after all these years I still remember

2019-02-01T15:35:37-05:00 2019-02-01T15:35:37-05:00 SPC Private RallyPoint Member 4336389

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Awful, horrible, terrible idea.<br />You&#39;re introducing a foreign object into a wound channel, that is not only not helping, but is detrimental.

2019-02-02T12:27:22-05:00 2019-02-02T12:27:22-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 4351603

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Never seen it. I think it&#39;s an urban legend. With gauze, quik-clot, combat gauze and TQ&#39;s not necessary. Good way to create compartmenting and later fistulas. If you could plug the entire wound tract, maybe? But with everything else, why bother?

2019-02-08T13:04:45-05:00 2019-02-08T13:04:45-05:00 SFC Private RallyPoint Member 4363100

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>So as both a medic and a woman who has used a tampon for the purposes it was invented for, I know that it is woefully inadequate to stop bleeding. Once the tampon has reached its max capacity of absorption, which is a few ounces, you will have leakage; this would be an embarrassing situation for a woman, but deadly for anyone attempting to stop bleeding on a casualty. The CLS course does not teach tampons, this comes from &quot;back in my day&quot; stories, we all know medicine evolves, we should have evolved past this. Evidence-based medicine shows us that best practices are to find the source of the blood as best as possible, pack it with gauze, apply pressure, use a tourniquet on extremities.

2019-02-12T21:33:20-05:00 2019-02-12T21:33:20-05:00 SSG Phillip Trezza 4384398

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Kerlex (hemostatic gauze if you have it) and tourniquets. No tampons.

2019-02-20T11:05:15-05:00 2019-02-20T11:05:15-05:00 PFC Private RallyPoint Member 4560636

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Gunshot wounds often take multiple packets of compressed hemostatic impregnated gauze to halt bleeding. And then on top of that you have to add more pressure through the use of a emergency pressure bandage over it. A tampon isn&#39;t going to do anything besides soak up some blood. It&#39;s not going to provide the necessary pressure on the walls of the wound to occlude them. I carry one for if a soldier gets a nosebleed, but that&#39;s about their only medical use outside of their feminine hygiene role.

2019-04-19T18:40:18-04:00 2019-04-19T18:40:18-04:00 SGT Alejandro Benavides 5791535

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>The purpose on why some medics carry them is for minor blood loss, like a nosebleed. Which are very common in the Middle East due to dryness.

2020-04-19T00:34:17-04:00 2020-04-19T00:34:17-04:00 Sgt Dale Briggs 7634594

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>Why wouldn’t everyone carry an extra kit vs this silly crap?

2022-04-20T20:34:22-04:00 2022-04-20T20:34:22-04:00 SPC Morris Johnson 7634933

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>trash it doesn&#39;t work

2022-04-21T00:07:13-04:00 2022-04-21T00:07:13-04:00 SFC Francisco Rosario 7638146

<div class="images-v2-count-0"></div>When I was going through school as a Combat Medic, I was told of a type of tampons used for stopping nose bleeds. They get introduced from the back of your nasal cavity (upper and posterior part of the back of the throat). I have seen pictures of this, did not look comfortable or fun at all. They are not the typical type of tampons, but are simply called &quot;Nasal Tampons&quot; due to the resemblance. However having stated that, I am not sure that this procedure is still done.

2022-04-22T12:58:36-04:00 2022-04-22T12:58:36-04:00 2019-01-29T14:31:50-05:00