Chest Seal Kit is essential for trauma care in the military, emergency services, a reliable chest seal means life or death. The open chest wounds often caused by gunshots, stabbings, or other forms of penetrating trauma, can lead to life threatening complications like a tension pneumothorax if not treated properly.
What is a Chest Seal Kit ?
A chest seal kit contains essential supplies to treat open chest injuries. The most crucial is chest seal. The chest seal is designed to cover the wound and prevent air from entering the chest while air or blood could be released through vented channels.
So the standard chest seal kit includes:
Chest Seal x 2: One for in, one for out. Vented chest seal to cover the wound.
Gauze or wipes: Used to clean the wound before apply the chest seals. It's very important to keep the chest seal sticky. A large or extra large wipe is necessary.
Gloves: Blue or light color gloves to maintain hygiene during the procedure.
When to Use a Chest Seal Kit ?
Chest seal kit is designed to be used in a sucking chest wound or case the lung to collapse. These three injuries are the most common situations:
Gunshot wounds on chest
Stabbing wounds on chest
Shrapnel wounds on chest
These 3 situations cause open wound injuries which lead to pneumothorax, air fills the space around the lungs, preventing them from expanding properly and leading to difficulty breathing or even death. Chest seals helps to prevent air from entering and allow air or fluid to flow through the vent.
Vented vs. Non-vented chest seals
Vented Chest Seals: These have built-in vents that allow air and fluids to escape from the chest while preventing air from entering. The vent channels work like a valve.
Non-vented chest seals: There might be a through and through gunshot wound, non-vented chest seals provide an airtight seal but do not have a vent.
However, there are some important practical points to consider when we think to choose between vented and non-vented chest seals. A casualty may only have one open chest wound, so you might only need to apply one chest seal to save the other for future use or for other casualties.
And vented chest seals come with more benefits. The vented chest seal allows trapped air, blood, and liquids to be released from the chest cavity while preventing more air from entering, and it's crucial for maintaining adhesion of the chest seal.
Personally, I prefer two vented chest seals. A vented chest seal can also function like a non-vented seal if placed correctly, and the venting function will help maintain adhesion, keeping the wound sealed.
Top choices for a chest seal kit
When selecting a chest seal kit, it's important to consider factors like adhesion, venting capability, and ease of use. There are various brands of chest seals, we've made tests to show the performance, adhesion, stability of each brand, click here to see the test reports.
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