Something to go with that tourniquet

[palmbay lou]

Hello to all, I am posting a link to an article accompanied with video.  The article tells about an M.I.T student who came up with a cost effective way to offer medical healing.  The device she put together is using a bellows from a plunger like you would by from the general store or hardware store.  A large rubber cork and some clear plastic tubing.  The purpose of the device is to offer negative pressure or vacuum on an open would area to remove air and bacteria and draw blood up to the surface where skin cell regeneration can occur at a much better rate.  To me, when I saw the article photos and read the information, the idea jumped out to me that this would be an excellent item for preps.  We all know that sometimes hospitals are not close enough or available and we need to improvise.  This young lady put her mind to work and came up with a great idea.  I looked below on the article to see the blog comments and was stunned at how many people raised the question as to when the device might be made available to the public and what the cost could be.

I couldn’t stand to see so many sheep idling in one place and responded that it was a simple bellows from a plastic plunger for your toilet and a rubber cork and some clear plastic hose that can be purchased in so many places and that I was going to make one right away for my home preps.  If you have some medical background or just common sense I believe you will see the benefits of having something like this for your preps too!   The first link is for the news article and the second is a video demonstration of the device.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1616025/mit-student-develops-cutting-edge-low-cost-healing-for-the-developing-world 


http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid38324044001?bclid=0&bctid=77593817001
 

[PegLeg45]

Basically a home-made 'wound-vac' machine. Excellent concept....I never would have thought of making a home use version.

They are life-savers. In 2003 my doctor used one to save more of my leg than would normally have been saved after a motorcycle wreck. They sewed a sponge into my wounds and inserted the same type tube into the sponge. Then covered it like in the video. The only real difference was they had a vacuum pump machine that kept the pressure on it. It looked like an aquarium air pump (but with vacuum instead) and had a fluid collection tank. I was the first person in our hospital that it was used on (they had to bring in a specialist from the company to demonstrate), and I never at any time showed any signs of infection during my recovery, and the doctors and nurses said that was "astounding" and "unheard of" due to the open nature of my wounds. I'm very lucky.


This is a similar machine:

http://www.kci1.com/cs/Satellite?c=KCI_Product_P&childpagename=KCI1%2FKCILayout&cid=1229538253539&p=1229538260417&packedargs=currentProductTypeSelection%3DV.A.C.%2BTherapy%2BUnits%2Band%2BSystems%26locale%3Den_US&pagename=KCI1Wrapper

Thanks for the post.

[Solus]

hmmm...

A bit of good thinking replaced a $100/day treatment with a one time cost of $3....

Now THAT is the way Health Care Reform should work.

[PegLeg45]

hmmm...

A bit of good thinking replaced a $100/day treatment with a one time cost of $3....

Now THAT is the way Health Care Reform should work.

+1....good old human ingenuity.



As a side note, you could probably use one of those vacuum kits found at the auto parts store. It has the vacuum pump and tubing all in one kit. I have one I use to bleed brake lines. But it would cost a few bucks more....but might take up less room in a kit bag.

[fightingquaker13]

Actually, there is an easier way to do this and it dates back to the middle ages and was used extensively to treat gangrene and aid bleeding well into the 19th century (its now used by some S@M folks for home entertainment purposes as well ) Its called "candling". Basically it requires a a small round piece of leather or cardboard, a votive or tea candle and a short round drink glass. You light the candle, place it on the pad and cover it with the glass. The candle exhausts the O2 and forms a vacum. This raises the covered skin in a bump and draws the blood to the surface. The medieval docs would take the glass off quickly and then apply a leech or use a lancet to bleed the patient, or just do it to bring fresh blood to the wounded area.. (I neither know nor want to know what the kinky folks do).
FQ13

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