[September 05, 2013]

Medical Innovation iTClamp Hemorrhage Control System Used for First Time in United States

On Thursday, August 29, a 64 year old man near Olive Branch, Mississippi was trimming tree limbs when his chainsaw got caught in his shirtsleeve and came down on his left upper arm, leaving a 7 inch long, 1 inch deep wound that was bleeding uncontrollably. Clinicians at the nearest hospital determined that he needed air transport to The Regional Medical Center of Memphis (The MED) for Trauma OR services, and local air transport service Hospital Wing was called in. Upon arrival, Hospital Wing flight crew members Jan Weatherred RN and Jennifer Miller EMT-P immediately remembered an innovative new hemorrhage control device that had been adopted by the service that very day - the iTClamp^TM Hemorrhage Control System - and they put it to use, marking the first time this device has been used in the United States since it obtained FDA clearance earlier this summer.

Currently accepted treatment for severe bleeding is typically direct pressure, hemostatic agents and sometimes tourniquets. But in this patient's case, these options were either inappropriate or unsuccessful to stop his bleeding, and the bleeding from the wound remained uncontrolled when Hospital Wing arrived. Enter the iTClamp.

Within minutes of applying two iTClamps to the wound, the bleeding stopped, the patient stabilized, and the aircrew was able to transport him to The MED where surgens sutured him up. Eight hours later, he was released from the hospital. "The iTClamp provided a quick and easy solution to an otherwise potentially life threatening injury," commented Weatherred. Hospital Wing's Director of Education, Jason Clark, spoke with the patient 48 hours after the accident and the patient reported a minimal pain level and a slight pressure sensation following application of the device.

Dr. Joe Holley, one of Hospital Wing's Medical Directors, led the service's adoption of the iTClamp, and Hospital Wing is the first service in the United States to deploy the device. "Severe hemorrhage continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The iTClamp has given us a rapidly deployable means to effectively control these situations in the field. The iTClamp is quickly applied, portable, effective, and doesn't disrupt distal blood flow like a tourniquet. The crew can quickly control life threatening bleeding and proceed with additional important patient care activities. Hospital Wing has always led the way in patient care and innovation, and I'm really excited to be a part of this latest development in patient care."

The iTClamp from iTraumaCare is designed to control severe bleeding - a leading cause of death in traumatic injury - in seconds. The iTClamp seals the edges of a wound closed to create a temporary pool of blood under pressure, which forms a stable clot that mitigates further blood loss until the wound can be surgically repaired.

Dr. Dennis Filips, the CEO of iTraumaCare and the inventor of the iTClamp, commented, "To have our first human use in the US turn out so well is thrilling, and we look forward to getting the iTClamp into the hands of first responders across the country and around the world."

Hospital Wing, the Mid-South's only non-profit air ambulance service, began operations in Memphis in 1986 as a consortium of Methodist Lebonheur Healthcare, Baptist Memorial Healthcare, and The Regional Medical Center "The MED." Hospital Wing owns seven aircraft and has bases in Memphis, Brownsville, and Selmer, Tennessee; Oxford, Mississippi; and Jonesboro, Arkansas. Hospital Wing also provides helicopter services for Pedi-Flite, the specialty pediatric transport team from Lebonheur Children's Hospital.

The iTClamp is the first product from iTraumaCare, an emerging medical device firm based in Edmonton, Canada with global commercialization headquarters in San Antonio, Texas. iTraumaCare is addressing unmet needs in the field of emergency medicine by developing, manufacturing, and commercializing solutions to treat common causes of preventable death in traumatic injury scenarios.

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