New methods of hemorrhage Control in Pre-Hospital and Battlefield Conditions: Mini Review

Hemorrhage has been a major cause of casualties on the battlefield, which can be prevented in many cases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of hemorrhage control methods in pre-hospital and battlefield conditions.

In this mini-review, search was conducted using different combination of keywords including Hemorrhage control, Hemorrhage blocking agents, new methods of hemorrhage control, pre-hospital care, war scene, battlefield, nurse from the databases like IranMedex, Sid, Scopus, Magiran, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Pro Quest, CINHAL, Science Direct from 2000 to 2019. The articles were reviewed by three researchers independently.

The databases search yielded 42 records. Based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 articles were selected for study purpose. The results obtained from the articles showed that among the major factors controlling hemorrhage, two major factors play more prominent role. The first is combat tourniquets that have an important role in saving people's lives from hemorrahge, and the second category is the novel Hemostatic agents, which are manufactured under different trademarks and in various forms, including powder, bond or gas impregnated with these materials.

Tourniquet can be life-saving if used at the right time. The modern blood coagulation factors may not fulfill all expectations in the process of controlling hemorrage on the battlefield. But any blood hemostatic factor with its properties can have a significant impact on controlling bleeding and subsequently saving lives.