Tourniquet

A Tourniquet is a medical device used to control severe, life-threatening bleeding by applying localized pressure to a limb to restrict or completely stop blood flow (occlude circulation).
Types of Tourniquets
Tourniquets are categorized primarily by their context of use:
🩸 Emergency/Trauma Tourniquets (e.g., CAT, SOF-T):
Purpose: Rapid, life-saving control of catastrophic bleeding in pre-hospital, combat, or mass casualty situations.
Design: Commercial-grade, mechanical devices (like the windlass type) designed for quick, effective single-person application.
🏥 Surgical/Pneumatic Tourniquets:
Purpose: Used in a controlled operating room environment (e.g., orthopedic or plastic surgery) to create a bloodless surgical field, improving visibility and reducing blood loss.
Design: An inflatable cuff connected to a pneumatic machine that allows the surgical team to precisely set and monitor the pressure.
💉 Clinical/Venipuncture Tourniquets:
Purpose: A simple, elastic band used by nurses or phlebotomists when drawing blood or inserting an IV line.
Design: A thin, stretchy band used to pool venous blood to make veins more visible. This type only restricts venous return and is not capable of stopping arterial bleeding.