Bullseye: Combat Application Tourniquet®
(C.A.T.®
)
Tourniquets are designed for single-hand operation by the wounded offi cer himself.
Offi cers may be pinned down and must rely on their own ability to stem the fl ow of blood from an extremity.
Law enforcement officers, like their military counterparts, operate in a higher risk environment than most civilian oc- cupations. One of these elevated risk fac- tors is exposure to gunfi re. Today, most departments recognize this threat and issue body armor to minimize the risk to their offi cer’s torso area. An area often neglected is an offi cer’s extremities (arms and legs). T e blood lost from a bullet wound to the
17 The Police Marksman Sep-Oct 2014
chest is the same blood lost from a severed femoral artery. Dead is dead! As police trainers and fi rearms instruc- tors, we know that a greater than average number of offi cers are hit in the extremi- ties. T is is in part due to target fi xation by the suspect focusing on the offi cer’s weapon (shooting where you look) as well as hit- ting portions of the offi cer that are exposed from behind cover. T is was demonstrated
during the infamous 1986 Miami shootout when three of the eight FBI agents involved were each struck in the arm. T is is why agencies train for weak hand shooting now. While direct pressure is usually the fi rst method applied to stop bleeding, it is not eff ective in the middle of a gun battle. An offi cer needs his hands free to operate his weapons platform (to avoid getting shot again). T e offi cer may be pinned down behind cover for some time as medical as- sistance will not respond until the scene is secure. A self-applied tourniquet will keep vital blood pumping to his/her brain and prevent him/her from losing consciousness (a bad thing in a gun fi ght). T e practice of front-line law enforce- ment offi cers employing tourniquets has been gaining signifi cant traction in recent years. It has been endorsed by the Ameri- can College of Surgeons and the FBI after a joint study following the Newtown School shooting. It has also been endorsed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Tactical Offi - cers Association (NTOA). One of the most signifi cant endorsements for front-line po- lice offi cers to carry tourniquets was from Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis at the 2013 International Association of the Chiefs of Police (IACP) conference. Chief Davis said, “T e use of tourniquets is extremely important in our business. We have equipped all Boston Police offi cers with them.” T is was immediately after the Boston Marathon Bombing, which resulted in the amputated legs of several victims. T e tourniquet of choice for many law enforcement agencies is the Combat Appli- cation Tourniquet® (C.A.T.®). T e C.A.T.® is a small, lightweight, one-handed tour- niquet that completely occludes arterial blood fl ow in an extremity. T is is the stan- dard tourniquet issued to individual U.S. military personnel. Just as with any other pieces of duty gear, the C.A.T.® must be readily accessible by the offi cer with either hand without looking. When the offi cer needs it, he really needs it! Many offi cers carry the C.A.T.® in a pants cargo pocket while others keep one attached to their body armor inside their uniform shirts. Many tactical offi cers like to keep one on their turn-out gear. Some offi cers are now wearing them directly on their duty belt in
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