A quick look at today's health news
Syracuse, N.Y. -- The tourniquet, an old medical device credited with saving many lives after the Boston Marathon explosion, used to be shunned by emergency responders who believed it caused more harm than good.
Mike Stobbe of The Associated Press reports that as recently as the early 2000s, the tourniquet was still enmeshed in a longstanding controversy.
Here are excerpts from his story:
"Some people saw them as lifesaving, and others said they were the instrument of the devil," said Dr. John F. Kragh Jr., an orthopedic surgeon with the U.S. Army's Institute of Surgical Research in Texas.
As people lay badly bleeding in the smoke of the Boston Marathon bombings, rescuers used belts, shirts and other materials to tie off bleeding limbs in fast-acting bids to prevent major blood loss, shock and death. Such fast work no doubt saved many lives, doctors at Boston area hospitals said.
Although the tourniquet has been used to stem blood loss since at least the time of the Roman Empire, modern military surgeons had grown to doubt it. There were no good studies proving their benefit. And there was a common belief that some tourniquets could do more harm than good, cutting off blood and oxygen to limbs and resulting in amputations.
In Vietnam, tourniquets were not often used because it was thought they led to many amputations. That's because tourniquets often were placed too high above the injury, leading to loss of tissue that otherwise might be saved. Now they are used lower.
The dust settled in the last decade, following publication of studies from the Iraq war that showed tourniquets were clear-cut lifesavers. Those studies showed timely use of tourniquets could raise survival rates as high as 90 percent, and tourniquets are now routinely issued to soldiers.
However, some experts remain cautious. The Red Cross, for example, continues to worry that tourniquets may be used improperly or in situations when blood loss is not great enough to warrant their use.
But the Red Cross continues to advise that direct pressure be applied to a wound in less extreme situations.
Tourniquets should be at least 1 1/2 inches wide, and pulled very tight, to properly shut off blood flow, acording to the Red Cross. It says medical supply companies make tourniquets that do the job best.
Oneida officials worry about mental health reorganization: One year after the state closed the Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center's adult inpatient unit, Oneida County officials hope the latest state reorganization spares the center's children's inpatient program. (UticaOD.com)
Shake-up at American Cancer Society offices: Workers at regional offices of the American Cancer Society across the country are facing an organizational shake-up where they will be applying for new jobs in the revamped organization. (timesunion.com)
Chinese bird flu mystery grows: Health officials raised further questions about the source of a new strain of bird flu infecting humans in China after data indicated more than half of patients had no contact with poultry. It is unclear how people are getting infected. (Reuters)
You can contact health writer James T. Mulder at firstname.lastname@example.org or 470-2245.