Israeli innovative bandages saving American lives in Iraq

Israel21C ^ | January 09, 2005 | Nicky Blackburn

[veronica]

The Emergency Bandage can be applied quickly and easily by an injured soldier or non-medical personnel for immediate hemorrhage control.

In the Gulf War in the early 1990s, US soldiers fighting on the Middle Eastern battlefield sometimes found themselves using dressings dated from World War II to patch up their wounds. In the present Iraqi conflict, however, American forces are now using an advanced new bandage, developed in Israel, that can save lives by stopping traumatic hemorrhaging wounds, and can also be used as a tourniquet, or a sling.

The new bandage, called the Emergency Bandage, was developed by First Care Products, a tiny four-man Jerusalem start-up. The bandage marks the first major alteration to field dressings since the 1940s, and has already established its worth.

One of the major causes of death for soldiers at war is not the injury itself, but loss of blood on the battlefield. In the Vietnam war, for example, one in four soldiers died from hemorrhage bleeding or injuries to their extremities. In the current Iraqi war, only one in 10 deaths are attributable to this. One of the main reasons for this is that the US military has changed tactics. In the past, soldiers were taken off the battlefield and then treated for their injuries. Today, they are treated on the spot, which improves a victim's chances of survival. Often it is the soldier himself who takes responsibility for dealing with his wounds.

The Emergency Bandage fits well into the new philosophy of military medicine. In the past, soldiers or medics treating wounds would have to use three or four different dressings to bandage a wound. It was time consuming and often it was difficult to achieve the right pressure on a wound to stop the bleeding.

Ofer Molad, First Care's VP of marketing in the US, remembers how he and fellow soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), would wrap a rock into the bandage to maintain the right pressure.

The Emergency Bandage, however, is an elasticized bandage with a non-adhesive bandage pad sewn in. The bandage has a built-in pressure bar, which allows the soldier to twist the bandage around the wound once, and then change the direction of the bandage, wrapping it around the limb or body part, to create pressure on the wound. Aside from this, the pressure bar also makes bandaging easier. A closure bar at the end of the bandage means that it clips neatly into place and will not slip.

The pressure bar also enables a soldier to use the bandage on complicated injuries like the groin and head, which require wrapping in different directions.

The bandage can be put on with one hand, as Molad deftly demonstrates. "It's a very versatile bandage," he says. "It can be applied quickly and easily by an injured soldier or non-medical personnel for immediate hemorrhage control. It saves time in an emergency situation where every second is crucial."

Certainly the US military thinks so. Last year, the US Army purchased nearly 200,000 bandages for its troops. This year, the US Army purchased 800,000.

The Emergency Bandage, nicknamed the Israeli bandage by US troops, was created by American-Israeli Bernard Ben-Natan, a former combat medic in the IDF, who was located for some time at the Jerusalem Software Incubator (JSI), which is now owned by Jerusalem Venture Partners (JVP).

In 1997, Molad, who is also the president and CEO of Performance Systems, a US company that markets innovative Israeli technologies, was on a visit to JSI to look for interesting new software technologies. Instead, he discovered the bandage. "It was not high-tech, it was not a software project, it was not even sexy in terms of those days, but I fell in love with it for its simplicity and genius," says Molad.

Molad brought angel investors to First Care, who pumped $150,000 of investment into the product. This was followed by a further $450,000 from other angel investors including Persys Investment, Performance Systems ? which markets and distributes the product in the US, and Molad himself, bringing the total investment in the company to $900,000, with the $300,000 invested initially by the Office of the Chief Scientist.

In 1998, Molad began marketing the bandage in the US. The feedback was excellent, but First Care was told that the US Army procures new products only once every four years, and it had just completed this process. First Care then turned to the civilian market. Again, the feedback was positive, but Molad soon realized that in the civilian market, price is the primary consideration. First Care could not compete because the Emergency Bandage is more expensive than most existing options.

Molad continued to push the product, showing it at exhibitions across the US. Finally, the four-man company got its first break in 2000, when Robert Miller, a medic and trainer for the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, based in Ft. Benning, Georgia, took an active interest in the product. Miller, who was one of the first US soldiers parachuted into Afghanistan, began using samples of the bandage on bullet wounds at an emergency room (ER) in Houston, where the Rangers trained during peacetime.

The same year, Miller took the bandages to Bosnia and began using them on the battlefield. The reports were good, says Molad, and the bandage was found to save lives. "Battle conditions in Bosnia were very difficult," says Molad. "When soldiers were injured they could not be removed immediately for treatment, and there was often a lapse of time before they saw a medic. This was the critical time to use the bandage."

In 2001, the 75th Ranger Regiment began to buy the bandages from First Care, and in December 2002, it became standard for every ranger to receive his own Emergency Bandage in his emergency kit. As First Care discovered, this was the ideal route into the mainstream US army. Special forces like the Rangers, the marines, and the Navy Seals have their own budgets, and can buy whatever products they choose.

The rangers were followed by the Navy Seals, the CIA, the FBI, and other special units, who all began purchasing the Emergency Bandages.

When the next round of standard US Military purchasing began, First Care had already got its foot in the door, and had also received its National Stock Number (NSN), without which it cannot sell to the mainstream US military.

Aside from the US Army, today First Care sells its bandages to military and government organizations worldwide, including the Canadian forces, the French Army, and the Belgium Army. The company hopes to start selling to the IDF in 2005.

First Care expects to close 2004 with about $2.5-3 million in sales. This will be the company's first profitable year. Next year, projected revenues are $3.5-4m.

First Care currently sells three main products, a 4 inch Emergency Bandage, a 6-inch one, and a mobile bandage pad that can treat patients who have both entrance and exit wounds. The company is now exploring new potential products to enlarge its product offering.

"We have established ourselves in an extremely positive position right now with the US government and military, and we need to take advantage of that to bring in additional products in the same field," says Molad. "The hardest thing is to start selling products to the US military when you are a small start-up. We have already achieved that."

Already there are ideas in the pipeline, and First Care is also examining the idea of collaborating with a company that has developed a medication that can help stop bleeding. The plan, says Molad, is to introduce this medication to its pads, to help stem the flow of blood.

At present, First Care sells mostly to the US market. Some 90 percent of sales are to the US, and 10% to the rest of the world. The company now hopes to increase its overseas sales. "Most of the world is looking at the US market to see what they use," says Molad. "Success in the US will spread to the rest of world."

Most of the company's sales are to the military, with just 10% of sales to the civilian market. Molad, however, believes that this will change in coming years, because the US government has placed more emphasis on homeland security, and police and emergency units are seeing increased budgets. The company's goal is to take the same route into the US police force as it took with the military. Target the elite units first, and then penetrate the mainstream police forces.

Molad is pleased with the way First Care is developing. After difficult early years, the company is now flourishing. "First Care has a wonderful combination of a great life-saving product, clear demand, and the persistence to stick it out over a number of years," says Molad. "We couldn't have achieved this success in two years, but many Israeli companies simply do not have the patience to stick for any longer than this. First Care did, and it is now reaping the benefits."

[Obadiah]

Exactly. Have been thinking about this very matter a lot over the past few days. Copious oil revenue began to pour into the arab world at about the turn of the century, roughly 1900. The point being that the relatively wealthy Arab world, unlike the economically poor sub-saharan area of the world, have made nearly equal cultural and world contributions.

Think about it. All of the world's wealth from oil purchases over the last 125 years has poured into a handful of Arab nations and what have they contributed? What? Apart from radical Islam what have they accomplished. What do they export? Beside oil, what do they have that anybody else in the world wants? Where is their art? Where are their goods, their national products? What have they done economically? Agriculturally? Scientifically?

[Lazamataz]

Think about it. All of the world's wealth from oil purchases over the last 125 years has poured into a handful of Arab nations and what have they contributed? What? Apart from radical Islam what have they accomplished. What do they export? Beside oil, what do they have that anybody else in the world wants? Where is their art? Where are their goods, their national products? What have they done economically? Agriculturally? Scientifically?

A lot of it is culture. For example, it is Haraam (forbidden) to be in any kind of investment, because you may recieve interest, and that is not permitted in Islam.

Without investments, private companies find it nearly impossible to innovate.

This is just one of the many ways that Islam cripples its own people.

and Allah Ta'ala Knows Best

Mufti Laz Am'Ataz.

[ThirstyMan]

Ah! thanks.

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[JAWs]

Actually, the oil revenues didn't start util the 20s and didn't become the obscene factor until after WW2.

[sheik yerbouty]

It is part of the Arabs' "Mohammeden Misery Tour"..

[Seeing More Clearly Now]

"I suppose it's time to ask for a list all of the technological innovations for which Arabs have been responsible in the past hundred years..... waiting.....still waiting...."

Yes, the Arab world's sole industry is spreading hate and mayhem. They've got the riches of Croesus, enough for every individual to have plenty, and this is how they use it.

In few decades the Israelis, who care in their hearts and actions for all mankind as part of their inheritance, figured out how to make deserts flourish. They created hundreds of thousands of life saving innovations not only for themselves, but for all mankind. Many were traumatized refugees without a home, people who came with only the clothes of their backs and who educated their children in Torah precepts - for peace and for life. The Arabs just can't stand this success because it says volumes about what kind of society they might have accomplished in the past thousand years.

[SweetPilotofCanuckistan]

Here is a capsule of accomplishments you may not be fully aware of. I
thought you might find these statistics interesting.

The Middle East has been growing date palms for centuries. The average
tree is about 18-20 feet tall and yields about 38 pounds of dates a year.
Israeli trees are now yielding 400 pounds/year and are short enough to be
harvested from the ground or a short ladder.

Israel, the 100th smallest country, with less than 1/1000th of the world's
population, can lay claim to the following:

The cell phone was developed in Israel by Israelis working in the Israeli
branch of Motorola, which has its largest development center in Israel.

Most of the Windows NT and XP operating systems were developed by
Microsoft-Israel.

The Pentium MMX Chip technology was designed in Israel at Intel. Both the
Pentium-4 microprocessor and the Centrino processor were entirely designed,
developed and produced in Israel. The Pentium microprocessor in your
computer was most likely made in Israel.

Voice mail technology was developed in Israel.

Both Microsoft and Cisco built their only R&D facilities outside the US in
Israel.

The technology for the AOL Instant Messenger ICQ was developed in
1996 by four young Israelis.

Israel has the fourth largest air force in the world (after the U.S, Russia
and China). In addition to a large variety of other aircraft, Israel's
Air Force has an aerial arsenal of over 250 F-16's. This is the largest
fleet of F-16 aircraft outside of the U. S.


According to industry officials, Israel designed the airline industry's
most impenetrable flight security. U. S. officials now look to Israel for
advice on how to handle airborne security threats.

Israel's $100 billion economy is larger than all of its immediate
neighbors combined.

Israel has the highest percentage in the world of home computers per
capita.

Israel has the highest ratio of university degrees to the population in
the world.

Israel produces more scientific papers per capita than any other nation by
a large margin - 109 per 10,000 people --as well as one of the highest per
capita rates of patents filed.

In proportion to its population, Israel has the largest number of startup
companies in the world. In absolute terms, Israel has the largest number of
startup companies than any other country in the world, except the U.S.
(3,500 companies mostly in hi-tech).

With more than 3,000 high-tech companies and startups, Israel has the
highest concentration of hi-tech companies in the world -- apart from the
Silicon Valley, U. S.

Israel is ranked #2 in the world for venture capital funds right behind
the U. S.

Outside the United States and Canada, Israel has the largest number of
NASDAQ listed companies.

Israel has the highest average living standards in the Middle East. The
per capita income in 2000 was over $17,500, exceeding that of the UK.

On a per capita basis, Israel has the largest number of biotech startups.

Twenty-four per cent of Israel's workforce holds university degrees,
ranking third in the industrialized world, after the United States and
Holland and 12 per cent hold advanced degrees.

Israel is the only liberal democracy in the Middle East.

In 1984 and 1991, Israel airlifted a total of 22,000 Ethiopian Jews at
Risk in Ethiopia, to safety in Israel.

When Golda Meir was elected Prime Minister of Israel in 1969, she became the
world's second elected female leader in modern times.

When the U. S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya was bombed in 1998, Israeli
rescue teams were on the scene within a day -- and saved three victims
from the rubble.

Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship -- and the highest
rate among women and among people over 55 - in the world.

Relative to its population, Israel is the largest immigrant-absorbing
nation on earth. Immigrants come in search of democracy, religious
freedom, and economic opportunity.

Israel was the first nation in the world to adopt the Kimberly process, an
international standard that certifies diamonds as "conflict free."

Israel has the world's second highest per capita of new books.

Israel is the only country in the world that entered the 21st century with
a net gain in its number of trees, made more remarkable because this was
achieved in an area considered mainly desert.

Israel has more museums per capita than any other country.

Medicine... Israeli scientists developed the first fully computerized,
no-radiation, diagnostic instrumentation for breast cancer.

An Israeli company developed a computerized system for ensuring proper
administration of medications, thus removing human error from medical
treatment. Every year in U. S. hospitals 7,000 patients die from treatment
mistakes.

Israel's Givun Imaging developed the first ingestible video camera, so
small it fits inside a pill. Used to view the small intestine from the
inside, the camera helps doctors diagnose cancer and digestive disorders.

Researchers in Israel developed a new device that directly helps the heart
pump blood, an innovation with the potential to save lives among those with
heart failure.The new device is synchronized with the heart's mechanical
operations through a sophisticated system of sensors.

Israel leads the world in the number of scientists and technicians in the
workforce, with 145 per 10,000, as opposed to 85 in the U. S., over
70 in Japan, and less than 60 in Germany. With over 25% of its work force
employed in technical professions. Israel places first in this category as
well.

A new acne treatment developed in Israel, the ClearLight device, produces
a high-intensity, ultraviolet-light-free, narrow-band blue light that
causes acne bacteria to self-destruct -- all without damaging surrounding
skin or tissue.

An Israeli company was the first to develop and install a large-scale
solar-powered and fully functional electricity generating plant, in
southern California's Mojave desert.

All the above while engaged in regular wars with an implacable enemy that
seeks its destruction, and an economy continuously under strain by having
to spend more per capita on its own protection than any other country on
earth.

AND THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR IN ENGLAND SAYS ISRAEL IS NOTHING BUT A SHITTY
LITTLE COUNTRY !!!

[archy]

Theses Bandages are incredible.. Used some in Afghanistan on a buddy and one in Iraq.

Yep. The Emergency Bandage, plus another item, makes up the basis for my personal Combat Lifsaver kit. In any event, for under 10 bucks, it's some of the best-priced life insurance around, and with likely applications in automobile collisions as well as for gunshot wounds.

This internationally patented, FDA approved bandage is the ideal solution for emergency treatment, when every second counts. The product consolidates multiple first-aid devices such as a primary dressing, pressure applicator, secondary dressing and a foolproof closure apparatus to secure the bandage in place, all within one unit. The Emergency Bandage is designed for quick and easy application by professional and non-professional caregivers, injured soldier, combat medic, or untrained first responder personnel to provide effective, multi-functional treatment.

The Emergency Bandage’s sterile, non-adherent pad applies pressure to any site, is easily wrapped, secured and has an additional application, similar to a tourniquet, to further constrict blood-flow. The product is so easy to use that even an injured person can self-apply the bandage with one hand.First-aid treatment devices for the staunching of blood flow from traumatic hemorrhagic wounds in pre-hospital emergency situations feature: Immediate direct pressure to the wound site Quick, easy, personal, and professional application Consolidation of numerous treatment devices into a single unit Significant per treatment time and cost savings Designed with the end-user in mind Ease of application for both Victim and Care-Giver (even if the victim is his own care-giver).

Efficient Blood Staunching Capability/ Ease of Operation

The sterile, non-adherent pad is placed on the wound. The application of direct pressure to the wound site is achieved by wrapping the elasticized woven leader over the topside of the bandage pad where the specially designed pressure bar is situated. The pressure bar is designed to readily accept the wrapping leader. After engagement of the pressure bar, wrapping the leader in any direction around the limb or body part and onto the pressure bar forces the pressure bar down onto the pad creating the direct pressure needed to bring about homeostasis. The pressure bar, in addition to its primary function, facilitates bandaging. The elastic bandage uses the rigid shape of the pressure bar to change direction while bandaging, thus affording the caregiver more options for effective dressing of the wound. Subsequent wrappings of the leader secures and maintains the pad in place over the wound, and by covering all the edges of the pad acts as a sterile secondary dressing. The bandage leader is woven wide and will not bunch up or twist itself into a rope. The closure system of the bandage is multi-functional yet simple, quick, and familiar. Situated at the end of the leader is a closure bar (dowel with hooking clips) at each end to secure the wrapping leader the same way that a pen is secured in a shirt pocket. The closure bar holds the bandage securely in place over the wound site. If additional pressure is required the closure bar is easily removed from its normal closure position and inserted between previous layers of the leader directly above the protruding pressure bar and rotated. This rotation acts to screw down the pressure bar onto the wound to exert blood-staunching pressure. The closure bar is used as before to secure the dressing.

* P/N FCP-01 - NSN# 6510-01-460-0849 (4" width-green)
* P/N FCP-02 - NSN# 6510-01-492-2275 (6" width-green) *
P/N FCP-05 - NSN# 6510-01-515-7528 (6" wide-green with extra sliding/mobile pad- double pad)

Quik-Clot and The Emergency Bandage

[Squantos]

As a recently restored civilian who's dangerous days now are limited to four wheeling and hunting in remote regions I have a package in each vehicle an my hunting ruck that contains:

4 iodine swabs
2 quickclot packages
Pain Meds, prescription
2 IDF Emergency bandages
1 surgical stapler
large ziploc bag (use to make irrigation tea w/ swabs)
a large ACE bandage
A Personal Locator Becon with intergal GPS from ACR

Are these the same "life- saving hemostatic bandages" that the SEALs and EOD teams got issued 3 or 4 years ago ? They had a "combat tampon" that had clotting agents on it. Fibran's that clot were freeze dried or something that was an all in one bandage....is this it ?

[Mi-kha-el]

I would also add the Tanakh and Ten Commandments.

[archy]

Are these the same "life- saving hemostatic bandages" that the SEALs and EOD teams got issued 3 or 4 years ago ? They had a "combat tampon" that had clotting agents on it. Fibran's that clot were freeze dried or something that was an all in one bandage....is this it ?

That sounds like a Quick-Clot field dressing. The Emergency Bandage is a little different, basicly a larger version of a GI field dressing with an added ability to deliver direct pressure. Combine the two, and you've got a pretty effective setup for anything short of an open artery or an amputation [which is what I keep the cable ties for...I'm around propellers and helo tail roters quite a bit.]

Check out the links in my post above.

[American in Israel]

Without investments, private companies find it nearly impossible to innovate. This is just one of the many ways that Islam cripples its own people.

Well seeing what the do with what they got, let us thank the real God for what the fake god is doing to them. Think how dangerous they would be to the survival of humankind "if they only had a brain". (courtesy of the wiz of oz)

[texasflower]

Thanks for posting that. As a paramedic, I would love to have some of those things.

[texasflower]

Great post.

[texasflower]

I'll do that. It's even local for me!

I could be at their office to get samples to show the supply people within 25 minutes.

Thanks!

[Southack]

		What is TraumaDEX? FDA approved TraumaDEX is your 30 second solution to control massive and profuse bleeding that features MPH powder.				How Does it Work? TraumaDEX is engineered to act as a sieve to dehydrate the blood and thus serve to accelerate the natural clotting process.
		Using TraumaDEX TraumaDEX applies quickly directly on to the wound with it's "aim and shoot" bellows applicator that has a syringe like feel.				Features and Benefits The particles, or "beads", are derived from plant-based biomaterials with an extensive history of use on humans. Packaged material is stable, bio-inert and sterile.

[SweetPilotofCanuckistan]

Thank you