Extremity Tourniquet Self-Application by Antarctica Zodiac Crew Members

• Published in: Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness
• Main Authors: Yánez Benñitez, Carlos, Lorente-Aznar, Teófilo, Labaka, Idurre, Soteras, Iñigo, Baselga, Marta, Morishita, Koji, Ribeiro, Marcelo, Güemes, Antonio
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2023
• Subjects: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2023.179; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S1935789323001799

Abstract Search and rescue teams and Antarctic research groups use protective cold-water anti-exposure suits (AES) when cruising on Zodiacs. Extremity tourniquet (ET) self-application (SA) donned with AESs has not been previously studied. Our study therefore assessed the SA of 5 commercial ETs (CAT, OMNA, RATS, RMT, and SWAT-T) among 15 volunteers who donned these suits. Tourniquet‘s SA ability, ease of SA, tolerance, and tourniquet preference were measured. All ETs tested were self-applied to the upper extremity except for the SWAT, which was self-applied with the rest to the lower extremity. Ease- of- SA mean values were compared using the Friedman and Durbin-Conover post hoc tests (P < 0.001). Regarding the upper extremity, OMNA achieved the highest score of 8.5 out of 10, while RMT, and SWAT received lower scores than other options (P < 0.001). For lower extremities, SWAT was found to be inferior to other options (P < 0.01). Overall, OMNA was the best performer. The RATS showed significantly lower tolerance than the other groups in repeated- measures ANOVA with a Tukey post hoc test (P < 0.01). Additionally, out of the 5 ETs tested, 60% of subjects preferred OMNA. The study concluded that SA commercial ETs are feasible over cold-water anti-exposure suits in the Antarctic climate.