North American Rescue - CAT - Tourniquet

North American Rescue - Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT) is the absolute standard of medical tourniquets. 

No Nonsense Nova Take: This is the gold standard. From the frontlines of battle to civilians the NAR CAT is the one you can rely on. It's compact size and made from high quality materials. What we love about this is the one handed use and reinforced windlass you can tell this is a well made product. 

Here's the thing (especially for civilians) - in the event you get yourself into a situation where a CAT needs to be deployed, it is absolutely essential that you write the time the tourniquet has been applied. What we dont like about the CAT is that if a situation does occur, finding something to write the time down is most likely forgotten about or you dont have a marker/pen. First responders most likely have one on their person. However, the average civilian may not. We've fixed that and thrown a mini Sharpie on there that you or someone assisting you can grab. Just yank on it and write the time down. The chain will not get in the way or impede performance.

Transparency - we thought about buying a bunch of shitty bulk keychain like markers and throwing them on here. Marking the price way up. Nah. If you're going to trust your life to a CAT it's best you dont have a marker that wont dry up in a week. Now we dont actually know how long these will last before drying up but it's best to have something known to be reliable on there if you're going to save a life. Sure the NAR CAT isnt cheap...but neither is your life. 

Here's why time matters - The CAT will cut off ALL blood flow into the injured area (when applied correctly). During this time the tissue in the injured area is not getting any blood or oxygen. You've stopped the body from trying to 'repair itself' despite the injury. This causes lack of blood and oxygen. The lack of this may eventually cause tissue decay. In an ideal situation is under 15-30 minutes up to an hour - any longer the potential for short to long term damage to the injured area increases by the minute. This should give first responders enough time to get a blood pack in your vein. What happens if you wear a tourniquet too long? The build up of potassium and lactic acid due to the decaying dead tissue that has been created by cutting of circulation of blood, if suddenly released may cause adverse reaction to your heart e.g. cardiac arrest. Medically known as Ischemia–reperfusion. Your responder absolutely needs to know how long you've been wearing the CAT.

It is imperative that you know how to apply a tourniquet. So get some training and become familiar with it. Just like CPR it may save your life or anothers. 

The attachment of the marker and chain will not impede the application of the tourniquet. You can twist and tighten it even when the marker is attached. 

Here's the official description and information straight from NAR. (We feel like you need to know ours first though):