Today an article ran in USA Today where Doctor’s in the United States encouraged Americans to learn how to use tourniquets. The rise of hyper-violent situations in America has ushered in a new age where safety is an idea of the past. Tourniquets, regardless of their brand, or manufacturer must be applied correctly in order for them to work properly.

PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

The most important part of tourniquet application is practicing with it often. You should know your tourniquet choice inside and out. You should embrace its limitations and work to those effects, or find better tourniquet choices. You should be able to put it on left handed, in the dark, on your best friend!

A HIGH AND TIGHT APPLICATION IS A SAFE AND COMMON RECOMMENDATION.

The next most important thing to understand is that tourniquets are best placed on long single bones like the humerus, or the femur. The arteries branch into two at the knee and the elbow; those arteries then run along the inside of the bones on the lower legs, and arms making it much harder to stop the flow of blood when applying a tourniquet here.

COMPLETELY TIGHTEN THE BAND BEFORE TURNING THE WINDLASS

Another common mistake with tourniquets is failing to tighten the tourniquet completely before tightening the windlass. The windlass is only good for so many revolutions before it becomes ineffective, so being sure to completely tighten the tourniquet before using it makes a tremendous difference.

Check out the video above for more knowledge about applying tourniquets!

Click here to see my top three choices for tourniquets.