"I got the dressings for my personal IFAK from a medical unit in Taji , Iraq in late 2004. I served as an Infantry Sniper there, and asked for them to ensure my team would have a better chance if wounded while working away from the medics. I did get to employ one when a platoon I was attached to ran across a wounded Iraqi. He had a gunshot wound to the knee, going upwards into the thigh. It was bleeding quite a bit, and the Hem-con did a great job in sealing the wound. I've been very happy to have the Hem-con's with me ever since. Thank you, not only for the bandages, but for providing what has saved countless lives. Hopefully my team will never have to use them again, but if we do, I know they can make the difference. If I do use another in combat, I'll be sure to let you know about it."                                                   Sergeant-Infantry, 256th BCT, Louisiana ARNG

“I believe the military services are in good standing order with your product in hand.  BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front):  Your products have made the difference in this war. “
                                                               CSM(R) David A. Eddy.  Former MEDCOM CSM for the Army

 

"I have used it on a variety of wounds and when placed appropriately it is a very good way to control hemorrhage temporarily. It can be used in difficult wounds and I have used it on a variety of wounds to include: cardiac injury, vertebral artery injury, diaphragm, chest wall, pelvic fractures, scalp lacerations, and extremity wounds. While it is not the solution for all sources of hemorrhage, it is an extremely valuable tool for those taking care of people who have traumatic wounds.”
                                                                 Captain, United States Navy

 

"...I am an medical operations officer with the 101st Airborne Division in Tikrit, Iraq. I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that the HEMCON dressing is making a difference over here. Countless stories have been recited from the combat support hospitals to the infantry medics as to how many lives this product has saved. As a soldier deployed in a combat zone, I am comforted to know that my life and the lives of my fellow soldiers are protected by a medical system that will spare no expense in providing far forward health support and exploit new medical technology. The HEMCON may be the single greatest improvement to combat medicine since the inception of aero-medical evacuation."

Captain, 101st Airborne Division, Medical Operations Officer

Army officials say thousands of soldiers in Vietnam might have been saved if these chitosan bandages had been around. "When you look at the wound data from Vietnam, about 10 percent of all the fatal wounds were from uncontrolled hemorrhage or uncontrolled bleeding," says Lieutenant Colonel Ian Wedmore, a surgeon at the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington. "So if you look at that and say, well if we have a device that would stop this uncontrolled hemorrhage, then you're saying that conceivably you could have saved up to 10 percent of those fatalities. So you're talking about 5,000 people." Wedmore collected some 40 anecdotal reports from medics who used the bandages on today's battlefields of Iraq, and he believes the bandages are saving lives. Following is one of the entries from his field survey: "RPG casualty with multiple frag wounds to groin. Profoundly hypotensive patient. As he was resuscitated developed diffuse groin oozing not controlled with kerlex and pressure alone. Chitosan applied which controlled ooze and stabilized patient enough for transport to definitive surgical care. Without chitosan MD felt patient would not have survived to transport."

Excerpt from Science Central News by Karen Lurie, August 2004

"... I used your product in Fallujah and believe it will continue to save lives."

Lieutenant - Operations Officer, Medicine Lesson Learned Center Naval Operational Medicine Institute

"... I am currently in the 'sandbox' and am using the dressing. Pretty successfully too. Can't go into details, but it has been helpful, when used appropriately (in my opinion)."

Major - Medical Corps - U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command

"As the Primary Instructor for Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) course, I personally have trained over 1000 Special Operations soldiers/sailors/airmen on the HemCon dressing before they go over seas in the last 12 months. They all were very impressed and excited on how well it worked on the severe bleeding models that we showed them. In my opinion it is head and shoulders above the gauze we carried to stop bleeding, in fact there is no comparison. Every soldier should have this dressing in their kit when ever they go in harms way. It is simple to use and simple to apply and from the After Action Reviews I have read and the paper LTC (Dr) John McManus has written on its extensive use on the battlefield it has more than proven it's self as a Life Saver."

NCOIC, Tactical Combat Casualty Care

"I have recently returned from Afghanistan and wanted to share my experience with the ChitoFlex, used in two different occasions on patients. Both involved AK-47 rounds, 7.62mm round.

1. A check point soldier was shot in the shoulder during an ambush. The bullet entered the right shoulder from a superior lateral directed towards the lungs. He would require a right chest tube but importantly the penetrating wound was such that it involved bone marrow destruction and other tissues along with blood vessels. Bone marrow oozes and so does surrounding tissues, there was nothing to clamp off or put a tourniquet around so I used a piece of the ChitoFlex, made a corck screw of it and shoved it into the wound. The oozing slowed down thus noted by the decrease in the pleura-vac volume of blood as we kept the patient for 14hrs before medevac arrived for higher level of care. Allowing us to save our precious amount of blood for transfusion for another time.

2. 7.62 round either ricocheted or hit the patient in the hand which sent the bullet tumbling creating a deep right temporal occipital laceration. Head laceration cause significant bleeding and since we did not want to close the area because of the further exploration and surgery he would need I used a piece of the ChitoFlex and bandaging to stop the head laceration bleeding. Again giving us the flexibility to work with patients while using the versatility of the ChitoFlex; molding it to shapes desired for hemorrhage/bleeding control.

Thank you for your support sir of me and my sailors/soldiers/airmen during OEF."

Lieutenant, U.S. Navy