AirWrap is an elastic bandage with an integrated air bladder that creates and maintains hands-free direct pressure on a wide range of wounds. It generates and maintains pressure during pre-hospital treatment and transport.
Think of AirWrap as a pneumatic pressure dressing. Features include a pop-up indicator that signals when the air bladder is inflated and a pump connection with a Luer fitting.
The first thing you notice is the compact size and rugged packaging. You will need a pair of scissors. Don’t try to tear it open with your teeth unless you have a fabulous dental plan.
This matters quite a bit. Any advanced trauma dressing is more money than a 5″ x 9″, so you will want to save it for a serious bleeder. How well the packaging holds up to being banged around in a first-in bag for a couple years is important. The AirWrap should handily survive the experience.
Easy to use
I found the AirWrap highly intuitive to use. I basically glanced at the instructions and put it on right the very first time. That is because of some well thought out design features — and it’s vital.
Here’s why. This is the kind of product you won’t use every day, or even every month. When you do finally need it, it will probably be at the worst possible time and under the worst possible conditions, like a twisted Boyle’s Law. It will happen at the end of a double shift when you are tired in the dark while the weather is trying to kill you. Frankly, if a product like this needs directions, it has already failed. That is why I like the AirWrap so much: It’s easy to use.
Three one-inch plastic strips of hook type fastener are sewn at the beginning of the elastic bandage, to grab it firmly when you first start wrapping and instantly fix it into place. There are two more small patches near the end to keep it all locked up tight. The robust and thought-out 4″ wide elastic wrap part of this product shows a real focus on the details.
Almost immediately after you first apply it, you see the clear plastic air bladder. It looks a lot like the one inside of a BP cuff, because it is.
At the very end of the bandage is an integrated plastic keeper bar to secure the end. It is easy to figure out and you cannot lose it. It has folded over hooks on each end with teeth inside, to grab and hold the end of the bandage under tension.
Once you get the bandage secure, you attach the inflation ball to the bladder. This is just like any other Luer lock, so it’s also familiar to EMS providers.
You squeeze the ball and, in only a few pumps, you inflate the air bladder and start putting direct pressure on the wound. When you have pumped it up to optimal pressure, a molded-in depression in the corner pops out to let you know. In the dark you could probably do it just by feel.
An extra set of hands
One of the worst bleeds I ever had was a young man who had been deeply cut around half his neck at its base with a straight razor. I used an elastic wrap around the bandages on the wound and under the raised opposite arm. Then when I dropped the arm it added some pressure.
Unfortunately it kept bleeding anyway and I was forced to apply direct pressure to get it slowed down. With the AirWrap I could have applied pressure hands free. That would have allowed me to continue care without interruption, instead of spending the whole trip hanging onto his neck.
The AirWrap is a simple and effective solution. Used alone or with other trauma treatment, it will be a great choice, particularly for extremity injuries. AirWrap is designed and manufactured in the U.S. by RevMedx.
For more information, click here.
