While I would have cause for pause, in a situation where someone is about to DIE from massive bleeding. AND, miles away from the nearest hospital? From the modern ob tampon (the mysterious name for which I'll explain) to ancient Indian and Egyptian devices, let's go on a wild journey through the history of the tampon. But as Helen King notes, this is likely a misuse of the Greek word motos , which basically means the material they used for dressing wounds. The Ebers Papyrus, for instance, recommends helping a woman with unusual discharge by crushing up earth from the Nile with honey and galena, putting it inside a wad of linen, and leaving it inside her. I have seen posts by at least a hundred people that include them in their kits instead of real bandages because they heard online that it works. While many assume he was specifically talking about menstrual absorption, there is no evidence that it is specifically meant to stop bleeding. 30 April 2003. It was not until 1940s that many companies made tampons. 'Blood from bullet wounds inflicted by guns in school shootings is the blood of death.' . Did you get triggered? When we talk about damage caused by a bullet, there are two main types permanent and temporary cavitation. It seems we've been putting folds of various stuff up our genitals for thousands of years, though you'll likely be surprised at the reasons why. Yes, we fight for life now and treat infection later. Tampons make the non-life threatening loss of built-up blood a little easier to deal with, and thats all. The expiration date on the package is the date in which the company can no longer guarantee a sterile product. Ask ANY Army OR Navy combat medic ABOUT the critical importance of the Golden Hour?)!! Take a Xanax Jax. Tampons DO NOT work to control bleeding from anywhere other than a uterus. Its not as bad IF you have to give emergency first aid to someone in a major auto accident,but still miles and minutes away from dying? Do you have knowledge or insights to share? Let alone the extra 20-50 miles to the nearest hospital? 2022 - 2023 Times Mojo - All Rights Reserved Wrapping the entire dressing ensures that the bandage is being used to its fullest potential. Invented by German gynecologist Dr. Judith Esser-Mittag in the 1940s, the o.b. 7 months ago Reply. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. However, the tale's premise, isn't all that outlandish. Bleeding stops by pressure in most cases, a tampon expands when blood hits it. 3rd they cause damage when being removed, this is true to any packing material. Additional students will be charged on the day. Changing . Some of the earliest tampons recognizable as we know them todayintra-vaginal devices made from a string and a wad of something absorbentwere documented in Europe in the 18th and 19th century.. If your not a woman you have no say in tampon use. If youre going to be carrying one or the other as part of your EDC kit, dont plan to improvise plan to win! Cutting up potatoes for a pot of stew. Bottom: four-inch wide Israeli bandage. Next. It's like how soldiers in WW2 would tell each other that . Who invented menstrual pads? The nearest hospital? Not just disagree, but highly disagree. Youll hear us say it all the time pressure wins the war against bleeding. Example: [Collected via e-mail, January 2005], He told me how wonderful the care packages were and wanted me to tell everyone thank you. The use of tampons in treating gunshot wounds has had a positive impact on the medical community, resulting in improved outcomes and decreased mortality rates among injured soldiers. In order to stop arterial bleeding and copious capillary bleeding along the woundTrack, you have to pack agressively. As a field paramedic in an urban area I see a lot of gunshot wounds. IF the wound is linear and tampon sized, then a tampon will work. A tampon is a menstrual product designed to absorb blood and vaginal secretions by insertion into the vagina during menstruation.Unlike a pad, it is placed internally, inside of the vaginal canal. During World War 1, field nurses discovered that Cellucotton worked well as a disposable feminine napkin. Later, Gertrude Tendrich produced the first commercial tampon brand . if I had time I would have grabbed off the shelf diagnostics like BP meters do to it being a shooting chances are the Ambo would be in a staging area till the cops could clear the scene. In the Napoleonic Wars, the most used firearm in that conflict was the Charleville a smoothbore musket of .69, .70, or even.71 caliber. And it will not stop breasts from growing or cause breast cancer. Where can these items be purchased in the New Orleans area? Once inserted correctly, a tampon is held in place by the vagina and expands as it soaks up menstrual blood. A tampon is designed to be inserted into the vagina of a female human being in order to absorb menstrual fluids, which are discharged over the course of a few days. Predating the e-mail's appearance, an April 2003 news story about odd uses soldiers stationed in Iraq were finding for non-military items said, "In the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, many soldiers carry tampons to plug bullet holes in case they are shot." Im sure there are other myths that need your expertise. What were tampons invented for? >Is using a tampon to treat bullet wounds an effective strategy? Either of these signs, and you have messed up at some step(probably didnt pack in the right place, or didnt maintain continual hard pressure). and our Linen would be wrapped around earth from the Nile river, which was mixed with honey and galena, and placed inside the woman. These include: Gun shot wounds are unique because of the injury profile created in the wake of a bullets path, known commonly as cavitation. Ball up a large wad of gauze and place it directly on top of the end of the bleeder, replacing pressure with pressure, making sure to apply enough pressure to clamp the artery shut against the bone. Much ado about not much. All youd need is a large and heavy bullet traveling slow enough, and it would poke a hole. Army, Navy, Air Force, and every one! Even in civilian EMS I have seen packing save lives,and on one ocassion have seen a finger inserted in a neck wound get someone to the OR. I bet some of you must be thinking, "I have inflicted, seen, and/or treated numerous gunshot wounds, and there is no way I could have plugged any of them with a tampon!". There was no need for additional care other than a bandage wrap. 4. My son said, "Mom, the tampons sent by the Marine Moms by mistake saved a Marine's life." If you are interested in becoming a member to Personal Defense Network, please click on the special offer below: https://go.personaldefensenetwork.com/C21385. Put the fear of total civilizational cowabunga into your friends and family today! I seen them drag him out and plug it right there. while you do want to stop the bleeding, the bleeding itself does help irrigate the wound channel of smaller debris and contaminates. They were initially made of cotton and were designed to be inserted into the vagina to absorb menstrual blood. Just using a tampon alone may not work and may require pressure and additional gauze, however this can be said about almost any piece of medical kit. He said he wasn't sure who we were sending the pack to, but the panties were size 20, and he said one of the guys got on top of the Humvee and jumped off with the panties over his head and yelled, "Look at me, I'm an Airborne Ranger!!!!". OR, like the camp cook that was prepping food in the dining and cooks tent! Strangely, this was probably pretty effective: rock salt is a lethal spermicide, and even a solution of eight percent will destroy every sperm in sight. One historically-relevant innovation is organic tampons. Hope more peoplewould follow you. https://www.crisis-medicine.com/heavy-flow-is-not-massive-hemorrhage-tampons-dont-belong-in-ifaks/. Do yourself and your loved ones a favor: buy a real pressure dressing and take a class on how to use it effectively and efficiently. Theres nothing wrong with wearing a bra while you sleep if thats what youre comfortable with. Learned its many uses a hundred years ago when I was boxing. This is a question our experts keep getting from time to time. A descendant of pioneers, Cache was raised in the tradition of self-reliance and grew up working archaeological digs in the desert Southwest, hiking the Swiss Alps and Scottish highlands and building the Boy Scout Program in Portugal. MANY times we used a sanitary napkin and duct or electrical tape for an improvised Israeli bandage we worked with the military but did not get cool stuff like Quick-Clot. Gunshot wounds aren't shaped like tampons. QC doesnt always stop arterial bleeding, which is why you was a back up plan in that event. Instead, they were medical devices, designed to treat prolapsed pelvic organs, much as a modern vaginal pessary would today. For more information, please see our Either way ladies our efforts have boosted the morale of many Marines, provided much needed items for our troops, AND saved the life of a Marine! Triage Military physicians treated wounded according to rank or station instead of the severity of wounds. Tampons are not designed to stop bleeding, but rather simply absorb it. One was a close quarters ak47 to the side from maybe 10 away. Thank you for this article.After getting our CERT certification they encouraged us to flesh out our packs with more medical items. Theres no guarantee the tampon []. | It took me quite a bit before finding a solid article on the topic. Infection CONTROL measures are important, but that can be done after the injured HAVE been treated for severe blood loss! The message board post was edited into the form it has now taken, e.g., the original contained details not part of the version that has come to be circulated in e-mail, including the name of "Marine X" plus a bit about the soldiers' throwing "Channel 11" footballs at one another after lights out. Thanks When he brought this up my imagination was just running wild, but I let him continue. This was proper medical advice: the treatise was published in The Lancet, still the most respectable medical journal in England. I've seen it happen on one occaison. Ill say maybe in Las Vegas. The other type of tampon, the no-applicator kind, was invented by the German gynecologist Dr Judith Esser-Mittag, which is the reason they tend to be referred to in the literature as "o.b. After the war, Kimberly-Clark began making sanitary napkins from Cellucotton. My son said they had to go on a mission and Marine X wanted the chapstick and lotion for the trip. He wasn't picky about what it should be made of, though. Im not sure if you are aware the military actually has invested in an a tactical approach using the same technology as the tampon (slight variance as the Militarys applicator uses beads of the same material instead of a large swab). xstat, a bunch of objects that absorb blood. In the Napoleonic Wars, the most used . I have yet to see a gunshot wound inflicted by a modern firearm firing modern ammunition that I could have stuck a tampon in and called it good. They are designed from the ground up to control moderate to severe bleeding, including pressurized arterial bleeding. Thanks for the input. It was originally posted in July 2004 to a message board hosted by the Houston Marine Moms, a group that sends packages to soldiers serving in the field. Deryck-Personal Defense Network. Heavy flow is not massive hemorrhage: Tampons dont belong in IFAKs. Kimberly-Clark, an American . Soldiers tell each other things like "use tampons to fill bullet wounds" as a way to slightly bolster morale in a bad situation. Couple of things Rick. But thats another article for another time. They're also often processed using some fairly body-damaging chemicals (like chlorine), so new frontiers need to be pushed to make them eco-friendly and safe. I think the poster questions was fair. It DOES stop the bleeding. "Tampons" for medical use Of course, they weren't called tampons in Ancient Egypt, which was where the first similarly-constructed device was recorded. Yep. If you sustained one or several gunshot wounds from a small firearm (not a rifle) and was left to save your life by yourself (since in todays world no one would do that for you), would would you do? 9g of blood(about two teaspoons). You need to stay hydrated to avoid heat illness, bladder infections and kidney stones. After all, that's what they are designed for isn't it? It is unclear exactly how the idea of using tampons to treat gunshot wounds originated. As a result, from 1979 to 1983, over 2,200 cases of tampon-related toxic shock syndrome were reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). you only got so much blood, before you go hypotensive. Tampons soak up menstrual blood, but they may also block some menstrual flow from the vagina, which could extend the duration of bleeding. The entrance wound is typically where the fabled tampon is supposed to be inserted to assist with stopping bleeding. A search of peer-reviewed medical literature will fail to provide you with any data whatsoever on tampon use. This article explored the history of tampons and their unexpected use in treating gunshot wounds. Snip off the bloody excess and discard it, saving the rest of the unused regular gauze for further in the packing process. The shelf life of organic tampons is also believed to be about five years, because cotton is susceptible to bacteria and mold. 1776: A French doctor described a tampon made from tightly . I can't tell you how many guys, with a straight face, will tell me that a tampon will plug a bullet hole. The brain requires several of these things in order to keep the rest of the body alive. Tampons are sanitary products, but theyre not packaged and sealed as sterile products. They were, in essence, vaginal pessaries. However, it is believed that the idea came from the militarys need to find an effective and efficient way to treat wounds in the field. 4 level 1 He said the wound was pretty clean, but it was deep. A student stocks a bathroom with free pads and tampons at a high school in Falls Church, Va., in 2019 . I understand your comment about medicine in the civilian vs combat environment, however, both environments have the same objective which is to keep people alive. It sounds like what started as truth got modified or adulterated a little each time it was retold until some of the stories circulating today bear little resemblance to the original. Thank you again. Deal with it! If you have any further questions, please chat, email, or contact Customer Service at 1-855- . These people are often the same ones who say tourniquets are unsafe (read our article on TQs here!). After all the hemostatic gauze is packed, pack regular gauze on top, the asterisk pattern no longer necessary. I told my son I was really sorry about the mistake, and if he wanted I would send Marine X another package. The tampons of today face all-new challenges. Modern-day tampons were developed in the 1930s. In the first seven years of Tampax's time on the market, their use increased fivefold, and even though they had to use their factories to produce surgical dressings and bandages when American entered World War II, their rise wasn't hampered. Your email address will not be published. He grabbed a bunch of the items out of his care package and got in the Humvee. Come join the discussion about collections, gear, DIY projects, hobbies, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! Is it a end all be all solution, no, are there better products YES however this doesnt make them something that should not be considered. I have a passion for learning and enjoy explaining complex concepts in a simple way. Have there been cases where a tampon, feminine hygiene pad, or diaper may have served as a dressing in a pinch? Sanitary pads should not hinder the menstrual flow, so some people feel that using them can help their period to end sooner. The expiration date on the package is the date in which the company can no longer guarantee a sterile product. Some people feel that they have lost their virginity multiple times, by having different kinds of sex. When treating gunshot wounds, most of the preventable deaths are patients who die from bleeding. Little known fact quick clot will actually burn the exterior muscles of the bullet wound making infection much more probable. It was marketed as an invisible device even with the most perfectly fitted gown. Gertrude Tendrich bought the patent and launched the now-familiar brand. We greatly appreciate your business! If the stone (bullet) enters the water slowly, the water (tissue) displacement is so gradual that is has little effect on the surrounding molecules. This is likely, because no physician or researcher would recommend such a dangerous practice or suggest something so inferior to products that are battle tested with thousands of hours of research and hundreds of lives saved.. If something was being put up the vagina (say, soaked in opium), Hippocrates did say it should be covered on motos, but there's no mention of using it to stop menstrual bleeding. 18th century: The tampon was used as a medical device. Yes, medics use them on the battlefield, and yes, they are used in the street. He was inspired by a female friend who used an internally-applied sponge for menstrual flow, and informed by his own experience, since doctors had been using cotton plugs for bullet wounds and other secretions for years. The Ambulance Volante Although the name means flying ambulance, it was drawn by horses. 1st they are hard to open and know how to use, really? tampons": o.b. document.getElementById( "ak_js_2" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); document.getElementById( "ak_js_3" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Unlock exclusive member content from our industry experts. At this point I asked him, "Well what did you do with the rest of the tampons?" Most will not serve on a battlefield, but even there, expedience of removing the wounded to a proper MTF is paramount. These kinds of articles are all too common on the internet, due to the need to generate clickbait. Exactly. Corpsman rolled him over and plugged it with a kotex and we put him on an LRV. You can catch up with Cache teaching EMP survival at survival expos, teaching SERE to ex-pats and vagabonds in South America or getting in some dirt time with the primitive skills crowd in a wilderness near you. Pulling it back out after the tampon swells up, you risk doing the same damage as well as removing the clot you had hoped would have formed. Yes, in the field and in a clinical setting, we healthcare professionals do on occasion have to improvise a little in order to make things work regarding patient care and treatment. A Look at the History of This Thrilling Ride, Common Carpet Cleaning Mistakes and How To Avoid Them, The Importance of Separating Personal and Business Finances, Developing Your Personality: Identifying Strengths, Setting Goals and Connecting with Inspiration, How to pick out the proper payroll software for your enterprise, Security Tips For Every Web Developer Should Follow, Elevate your e-commerce business by enhancing packaging, Top 15 Decentralized Autonomous Organization Companies, 10 Must-Have Skills for Any Web Developer (Latest Guide 2023), Does Chobani Have Live Cultures? The exit a gaze. Using a tampon has no impact on whether on not someone is a virgin. That was the extent of the IFAK for WWII and Korea. But that doesnt mean we should be trying to re-invent the wheel! Say I am at a concert. Pressure is now maintained for 3 minutes. But the bottom line is, one can only do so much in the field environment, be it urban or austierre. At this point my son profoundly told me, "Mom did you know that tampons expand?" You guys have no clue what it will be like. No a tampon or a small pad is not the greatest thing for preventing an infection long-term.Im now retired from the medical field. Anyway, again, thanks for the article, and the great discussion fodder! Skin-to-skin contact between adults can increase levels of oxytocin, the love hormone. You guys dont really understand why using a tampon for bullet treatments actually works. These arent going to break anyones bank account. I ONCE did my time as a triage medic in a field hospital unit during the Vietnam Era! Kim: Your expertise to state that tampons are sterile is? This isn't to say you shouldn't use a tampon to pack a wound if you were shot in a remote rest-stop bathroom and there was literally nothing else available. [] tampoanelor pentru plgi, mai ales pentruplgile produse de glon, un material bun este aici. Packing a wound is a difficult, perishable, life-saving skill. Finally, the Food and Drug Administration laid down regulations that ensured only trace amounts of dangerous chemicals were used in the production of tampons. Have you ever stuck a tampon in a gun shot wound. Hornadyexplains it well: In essence, a bullet going through soft tissue has the same effect as dropping a stone into a pail of water. Denver District Attorney Spews Wild Misinformation During Colorado Assault Weapons Ban Committee Testimony A tampon simply does not allow that effectively. The only reason I would stuff a tampon in someone is if I shot them and was trying to extract intel out of them. He said it entertained them for quite awhile. If a tampon is the only thing you have use it but do not prepare your EDC trauma pack with them. One thing we learned as new medics in the Army was that if we cant get more than three uses out of one object/item/device/piece of equipment, we didnt carry it. They may follow bone structure, or ricochet. The use of tampons in treating gunshot wounds during war times has had a profound impact on the medical community. Check the wound daily for signs of infection listed below. In either case, the preferred method (aside from ligation or resection) is deep packing with gauze. These tampons back then were made from softened papyrus. The absorbent wads were more commonly used to soak up blood from wounds in World War One, or to administer medicine vaginally. Another tampon story says nurses made their own tampons during World War I. My son said, "Marine X got some really nice smelling lotion and everyone really likes it, so every time he goes to sleep they steal it from him." Worst case, a woman who happens to be riding in my truck, suddenly out of the blue starts her menses but failed to put suitable material in her handbag.