feature
Combat Application Tourniquet® (C.A.T.®
)
Tourniquets may save victims’ lives in active shooter situations when immediate medical attention is not available due to an unsecured scene.
ties, training should be incorporated to get offi cers thinking about how and when they would apply it. Common thinking would place it along the lines of the tactical reload (lull in shooting and have a solid piece of cover). Another scenario would place it in the active shooter realm where an offi cer is down (wounded) and protocol dictates that additional offi cers proceed to the active shooter, leaving the downed offi cer behind. T e tourniquet would allow the downed offi cer the ability to render aid to himself. Officers should practice placing the tourniquet on both the upper and lower extremity. T is is why it is essential that a single-hand application tourniquet such as the C.A.T.® be used. It is surprising how quickly a tourniquet can be applied with minimal practice if carried in a dedicated location. T is method has been attributed to saving thousands of U.S. soldiers’ lives during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to preventing loss of life to blood loss, it also allows the offi cer to ‘stay in the fi ght’ and potentially win the battle (stop- ping the bad guy from harming others). In today’s post 9/11 world where ac-
Applying a C.A.T.® the fight.
yourself allows a cover officer to stay in
a kydex or nylon pouch, such as the ones off ered by
1110gear.com. Having a tour- niquet on every offi cer’s person is essential, especially while on foot patrol or conduct- ing traffi c stops. Having one in the trunk of your vehicle while you are pinned down by hostile fi re inside a school or shopping mall is a bad idea. Since 2006, all U.S. military personnel
18 The Police Marksman Sep-Oct 2014
who have deployed to hostile locations have been trained on the use of the C.A.T.® Since many law enforcement offi cers also serve in the National Guard and military Reserves and a high number of veterans transition into police work, the use of the tourniquet is becoming signifi cantly more common. As the tourniquet would likely be employed during fi rearms related activi-
tive shootings and terrorist bombings are a real threat and the myths of tourniquets causing limb damage have been disproven, many departments and individual offi cers are starting to carry them. An offi cer wears an $800 vest that needs to be replaced every fi ve years and carries a $900 AED in his patrol car. Having a $25 C.A.T.® on his person (that does not have an expiration date) just makes sense. As law enforcement trainers, it is our responsibility to ensure the offi cers know how to use the tools available to “Shoot, Move, Communicate and Sur- vive.” Just as we incorporate the ballistic vest into fi rearms training (transition from the Weaver stance to the modifi ed Isosceles to project the vest toward the enemy), we should incorporate the tourniquet into tac- tical training.
Tourniquets save lives! Let’s make sure
the offi cers who carry them know how to use them when seconds count. PM
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