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We do not issue refunds. If you need to cancel or don’t attend the course, you will forfeit your payment.
To reschedule*, you must email us at, ben@gacpr.com, prior to the start of the CPR class. You may only reschedule once.

LATE POLICY

AHA requires students to attend the entire class and to respect timely students, no late admittance allowed. You must make a request to reschedule in writing. A $25 rescheduling fee applies.* To reschedule see fee details.

Thank you for choosing Georgia CPR for your CPR certification needs!

*Fees apply. – A $25 fee applies if you reschedule within 7 days of the class. – A $10 fee applies if you reschedule at least 7 days before the class.

Latest Post

  • January 11, 2015
  • By cpr_ben

Tourniquets: Finally OK For Bystander First Aid Use

Tourniquets
Tourniquets

Tourniquets

Over the years, CPR and First Aid guidelines have waxed and waned on the use of tourniquets. For a decade,  their use an integral technique in bleeding control. In past years, guidelines instructed lay responders to limit bleeding control to direct pressure for controlling bleeding. Finally in 2010, The American Heart Association guidelines included tourniquets. These basic guidelines on when tourniquets should actually be used, as well as training in how they are applied can save many lives.

Knowing when to use tourniquets is a basic first aid skill that is now taught in all American Heart Association classes.

Reasons to use a tourniquet

The following is a list of great reasons to use tourniquets:

  • Extreme, life threatening bleeding from a limb is present
  • Life-threatening bleeding occurs that can’t be controlled by other means
  • A severe bleed is out of reach.
  • A major incident occurs when there are multiple bleeding patients, and too few providers to help by simpler means

Recommended tourniquets

Commercially manufactured tourniquets are available online.

This link is to the SOF Tactical Tourniquet: Tactical Medical Solutions. This is the device I recommend because it has an easy-to-use clip to unhook, uses a metal winless, and does not have an expiration date.

This link is to the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT): North American Rescue. The CAT tourniquet is the most common. It is used by most military and law enforcement agencies. Make sure you purchase your CAT tourniquet directly from North American Rescue. There are tons of counterfeit CAT tourniquets on Amazon.

Watch out for counterfeit tourniquets

No True First Aid Kit is complete without a quality tourniquet. Beware of fake tourniquets! Amazon is full of fakes which can easily break during use. If your tourniquet didn’t cost right around $30, it is probably a fake. Buy once, cry once. If you can’t afford a real one, save up till you can.  Use a belt, necktie or anything that can be tied. It is better to improvise using something an inch or more wide. You can use a power cord, but it is more likely to cut into tissue when you apply a lot of pressure. Just tie it into a loop, droop it around the limb and use a screw driver, fat magic marker or whatever is available as a crank to twist the loop around the limb.

Tips for applying tourniquets

If a tourniquets is necessary, it is important to consider these tips for proper application.

  • Apply the tourniquet to bare skin, about two inches above, or toward the body, from the source of bleeding
  • A Tourniquet needs to be extremely tight. Tighten it until the bleeding stops!
  • Tourniquets are very painful. Do not remove the tourniquet due to pain.
  • Do not remove a tourniquet. EMS will take over and manage the bleed soon!
  • Write down the time you apply the device. This can be helpful to EMS

The use of a tourniquet is something we do not want to do. Chances are, we will never need to use one. Know how to use one. It can make the difference between life and death.