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GRP 55-First and foremost I want to send my condolences to the family of Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Cooper Dayton, 42. Dayton is the first American service member to die to fight the Islamic State in Syria was a decorated and highly experienced Navy explosive ordnance disposal specialist.
On with me for this podcast is Australian SAS Major Dr. Dan Pronk. Dan did multiple deployments and was the regimental medical officer for both 2 commandos and SASR (Special Air Service Regiment). Dr. Dan completed his medical schooling on an Army scholarship and served the majority of his military career with Special Operations Units, including four tours of Afghanistan and over 100 combat missions. Dr. Dan was awarded the Commendation for Distinguished Service for his conduct in action on his second tour of Afghanistan. We discuss bleeding control, how to treat internal bleeding, and prolonged field care. Major Pronk is the Medical Director for Tac Med Australia which provides training for civilians, military, and police tactical units in Australia. Below is an excerpt from the podcast:
John: One good thing to come out of this Global War on Terror is the advancement of medical treatment. There are various methods and procedures that have been effective at saving lives on the battlefield. One thing you said that interested me was a way to slow down internal bleeding. Can we talk about that a little bit?
SAS Major DR. Pronk: Medical literature goes back and forth on how useful this drug is. The name of the drug is Tranexamic acid or referred to as TXA. It's not a new drug, but its only in the last decade or so that people have been looking at it in a new light. The biggest cause of preventable death on the battlefield was people bleeding out so hence the use of arterial tourniquets. The Soldiers might have stepped on an IED and got horrendous bilateral lower leg amputations if you can put a tourniquet high above that wound and cut off the blood flow to that leg you can prevent him from bleeding out.
If it's a little bit higher maybe in the groin or the armpit, it's what we call junctional bleeds. It's too high on a limb to a tourniquet. So that's where your quick clot and hemostatic dressing come in. You can cram that into the wounds and the chemicals in those dressings can speed up the clotting process and stem the bleeding. Once you get bleeds inside the body, the chest, the abdomen, the pelvis areas where you can drop a huge amount of blood but can't get a tourniquet or quick clot on is difficult to control. The key there is to get that person to a surgical facility quickly.
TXA or Tranexamic Acid the concept of it is when your body starts bleeding chemicals in your body will identify it and try to stop that bleeding. It's an evolutionary process that stops us from bleeding out. As soon as your body starts forming clot chemicals will break down the clots. TXA inhibits the system that breaks down clots. TXA stops the system of breaking down the clot.
Dan Pronk:
http://www.tacmedaustralia.com.au/
https://www.facebook.com/TacmedAustralia/
Music provided by Caspian:
