The HemCon
Bandage (HemCon Medical Technologies Inc., Portland, OR) is a
hemostatic dressing made of
chitosan, a complex
carbohydrate derived from
chitin. The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the HemCon
Bandage in a civilian emergency medical services system. The HemCon
Bandage was added to the
trauma kits of a fire agency and data were collected from June 1, 2005 to August 31, 2006. The dressing was to be used when conventional treatment (pressure and gauze dressings) failed to control external
bleeding wounds or for obvious arterial
bleeding. Paramedics documented time to cessation of
bleeding after HemCon
Bandage application as well as
wound characteristics and suspected
bleeding type. There were 37 uses and complete data were available for 34 cases.
Wound location involved the head, neck, or face in 13 subjects and extremities in 18 subjects. There was one case each involving the chest, abdomen, and axilla. The
bandage controlled
hemorrhage in 27/34 (79%) cases, 25/34 (74%) within 3 min of application. In 25/34 cases, direct pressure had initially failed to control
bleeding and the HemCon
Bandage was effective in 19/25 (76%). The HemCon
Bandage failed to stop
bleeding within 10 min in 7 cases. User error was
a factor in 6 of the 7 failures. The HemCon
Bandage is an effective adjunct for uncontrolled external
hemorrhage when traditional measures, such as pressure and gauze dressings, fail.