Prehospital Control of Traumatic External Hemorrhage: Literature Review & Evidence Analysis of Tourniquets & Hemostatic Dressings

The majority of all road trauma deaths occur either at the scene of injury or in the pre-hospital setting. The World Health Organization has identified uncontrolled bleeding to be the leading cause of preventable traumatic death. Emergency Medical Services systems play a key role in helping to reduce motor vehicle-related fatalities by providing medical care at the crash scene and by quickly transporting injured patients to the most appropriate level of trauma care. This book's purpose is to present a systematic review and assessment of the biomedical and clinical literature describing pre-hospital treatment of external haemorrhage caused by traumatic injury. The primary focus of the book is the efficacy of pre-hospital application of tourniquets and hemostatic dressings to control traumatic external haemorrhage.