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Stephen was riding in the back of a HumVee. He was part of a convoy that was escorting Abrams tanks to their next checkpoint. They were afraid of some close range ambushes and wanted the HumVee’s along for quick response. The Abrams tanks rode sandwiched between two HumVees. Riding in the HumVee behind Stephen were four of his close friends, including a translator from Baghdad. He had volunteered his translation services when he saw the changes taking place. He wanted new lives for himself and his family and saw this as his opportunity to make an impact. But that life would change in a matter of seconds.
Their HumVee struck a triple-stacked tank mine. Stephen felt the massive explosion behind him and instinctively jumped out of the HumVee, running back to the flaming wreckage. What Stephen saw next would shock anyone. Stephen’s three friends were killed immediately and the translator was severely injured. The one inch steel doors of the HumVee were blown inward, injuring the translator’s legs. He was also on fire. Stephen helped extinguish the flames. He then reached into his jacket compartments and pulled out a silver package, containing pads. He started placing them all over the translator’s body. He was badly injured, but he would survive, thanks to a new technology.
The above story is true, it’s not made up. My friend told me this first hand account. It happened the day before Stephen left his first tour in Iraq. As soon as he told me about this new blood clotting bandage, I knew I had to post about it. That led me to HemCon’s website. What’s amazing about the bandage is that it incorporates ancient technology. And it’s as easy as going to the beach, so to say.
Researchers found studies from the 1950’s claiming that chitosan, a carbohydrate found in ground up shrimp shells, had amazing clotting properties. Those researchers, understanding the enormity of that finding, started HemCon to further explore and capitalize on that finding. They found that the differences in charges between the chitosan and the blood allowed for very quick clotting. But the initial bandages were hard to keep together. And on a battlefield, that is a huge problem. It didn’t take long, however, for researchers to develop a chemical reaction process that tightly binds the bandage to a wound. Now, they had in their hands a product that would end up saving that translator’s life. Stephen later told me, “Without that bandage, my friend would have bled to death on the spot.”
[tags]self clotting bandage, blood clotting bandage, HemCon[/tags]
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