The FDA has just cleared a device known as the XSTAT 30 for use in the general population. It’s a new kind of field dressing that’s value is not in its ability to heal, but to give gunshot victims more time, slowing the clock till the wounded can receive medical care.
Prior to the FDA’s recent press release, the XSTAT 30 was only approved for military use. So, in addition to battlefield medics, ambulances now have access to this new technology that allows them to dress a wound in 15 seconds. The device itself looks like a syringe full of sponges, and it is.
These 92 tablet-sized sponges are injected deep into the wound. Then these sponges do what sponges do best, absorbing the blood and expanding in the wound, filling it to create a temporary barrier to stop further blood loss in just 15 seconds. One XSTAT 30 dressing can absorb about a pint of blood, and the dressing can be used for up to four hours, according to the FDA.
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Published on December 12, 2015 12:34