{"id":6511,"date":"2017-05-12T10:15:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T09:15:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ageofrevolution.org\/?p=6511"},"modified":"2017-05-12T10:15:36","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T09:15:36","slug":"surgeons-blade-field-tourniquet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ageofrevolution.org\/surgeons-blade-field-tourniquet\/","title":{"rendered":"The Surgeon’s Blade: The field tourniquet"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Tourniquet (any instrument or device for temporarily constricting an artery of the arm or leg to control bleeding – the word is derived from 17th C. French – a device that operates by turning, from tourner, to turn)<\/em><\/p>\n
Since around 75% of injured survivors have traditionally been wounded in the limbs, it would seem that the tourniquet is a fundamentally important piece of field equipment to carry on a soldier\u2019s person.<\/p>\n
A British officer married to a French lady, was present at the siege of Badajoz in the spring of 1812. She had reminded him to carry a silk tourniquet with him in one of the severe assaults on the fortress. He forgot and exsanguinated from a leg injury in one of the breaches.<\/p>\n