US Troops using Granules that Stop Bleeding in Combat Zones

Military Medicine, Winter 2005

US Soldiers and Marines headed to Iraqi battlefields are now carrying a substance called QuikClot in their rucksacks. The white granular substance looks like kitty litter, and can stop profuse bleeding in seconds, according to doctors, medical corpsman and individual users. The granules absorb the plasma in the blood, leaving the naturally clotting platelets to close the wound.

Because the product can cause minor burns, it should only be applied as a last resort after tourniquet or application of pressure dressing has failed. AMSUS member Captain Gerard R Cox, director for medical programs at Headquarters Marine Corps in Washington, agrees. Gunfire wounds can usually be treated with a pressure dressing. But the problem in Iraq lies with the homemade explosive devices used by Iraqi insurgents. They tend to cause shrapnel that shreds flesh and makes bleeding harder to stop.

People on the home front are even putting together bake sales to raise money for the QuikClot battle packs, which include 3.5 oz of the product plus gauze and a pressure dressing. Police officers, firefighters, paramedics and even hunters are using the product as well.

The Food and Drug Administration cleared QuikClot for sale in 2002. After tests conducted by the Office of Naval Research deemed it safe, the Navy Department decided to include it in the individual first aid kits given to every Marine and Navy SEAL going ashore in Iraq.

Reference: Eisman, Dale, "Granules that Stop Bleeding Popular with U.S Troops", Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 20 November 2004.