Wednesday, October 22, 2003

QuikClot

I heard a report on QuikClot on the radio this morning. QuikClot is an inert substance that can be poured over an open wound to stop bleeding. It's been in use by the military in Afghanistan and Iraq and has been saving lives, especially when it can take hours to get a wounded soldier to a hospital. When poured directly into an open wound, QuikClot acts like a molecular sieve, sifting molecules by size. The larger platelet and clotting factor molecules do not fit through the QuikClot material and remain in the wound in a highly concentrated form. This promotes rapid natural clotting and prevents severe blood loss. Behind the technology is an interesting tale of an accidental inventor (Frank Hursey) who discovered a terrific application idea which took 15 years to bring it to use.
posted by Bob at 10/22/2003 11:47:00 AM  | | digg | del.icio.us | reddit