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The miracle bandage made of shrimp shells that could save our soldiers(The Mail on Sunday Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)A REVOLUTIONARY bandage coated with ground-up shrimp shells could save the lives of British soldiers in the battlefields of Afghanistan. A substance in the shell can stop bleeding in seconds, buying time for an injured soldier waiting to be treated by paramedics. The bandages, which cost GBP70 each, are already credited with saving 120 American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan and will be trialled by the British Army from April. The key ingredient is a carbohydrate called chitosan, found in the shells of shrimp, lobster and beetles. Its molecules are positively charged and attract the negatively charged red blood cells, forming a strong bond. It has been known to help stop severe bleeding since the Fifties, but it was only after further research by American scientists funded by the Pentagon that it was incorporated into bandages. Early versions tended to fall apart. But the scientists found mixing in another unlikely ingredient - vinegar - created a tight-fitting plug that stopped otherwise fatal arterial bleeding in seconds. The bandage stays on for up to 24 hours. John Morgan, chief executive of HemCon, which manufactures the dressings in Oregon, said: 'We have evidence that the bandage is 96 per cent effective. The US Surgeon General has mandated all servicemen and women to have them. They carry three at all times.' Bleeding is the main cause of battlefield deaths. But treatment - compression bandages or a tourniquet - had remained unchanged for centuries. While compression bandages are of limited effectiveness, tourniquets can lead to the loss of a limb if applied too tightly and cannot be used on the neck or torso. The US Army was issued with chitosan bandages in the early days of the Iraq conflict in 2003. They have since also been used in Afghanistan. Master Sgt David Pitts, a Ranger medic, used the bandage twice. He said: 'The first time, one of our guys stepped on one of those Russian landmines and it blew off half his foot. He had arterial bleeding. We held the bandage on it for two minutes. It stopped it right up.' The dressings are part of a major MoD programme of improvement in battlefield casualty care. They will be trialled first in Afghanistan and then Iraq. Eventually, one in four of all British combat troops on operations will be trained as medics and the military has started to use a Danish-made drug called Recombinant-Factor VIIa to stop internal haemorrhage. 'Haemorrhage is the number one cause of death on the battlefield,' said Colonel Tim Hodgetts, Defence Consultant Adviser in Emergency Medicine. 'We hope to save Service personnel who would almost certainly have died in the past.' And Defence Secretary John Reid said last night: 'The new treatments are part of the MoD's commitment to apply the latest medical developments for the benefit of the men and women of the Armed Forces.' The bandages are being reviewed separately for use by civilian emergency crews. |