First Aid - Thorax plaster with valve

Thorax plaster with valve

When it comes to first aid after life-threatening accidents, the most important things to have are training, regular practice and quick access to proper first response equipment. This holds true for rescuing others as well as treating one’s own injuries if help is far away. Even with the most traumatic injuries, there is a great chance for survival if correct measures are taken immediately. The initial 5 minutes after the injury are crucial for first response, as is the so-called “golden hour” in which an injured person should then be delivered into professional medical care.

Open penetrating chest wounds are very often inflicted in tactical situations by stabbing or shooting, but they can also occur in hunting, forestry or motorsports accidents for example. These injuries can lead to open pneumothorax, a condition where airflow through the wound into the chest cavity collapses the lungs and inhibits breathing. To prevent this, self-adhesive vented chest seals are positioned on penetrating chest or back wounds. They allow air and fluids to escape while further airflow from the outside is kept out, thereby safeguarding the patient’s breathing functions.

If you want to put a trauma kit together, you should also consider a TCCC tourniquet to stop arterial bleeding in extremities and an Israeli compression bandage to apply to heavily bleeding wounds on all kinds of body parts.

CAUTION: In order to execute first aid procedures effectively and safely, the techniques for applying emergency dressings or bandages like a chest seal should be practiced regularly – ideally in connection with first aid courses.