Big Mickey
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Opinionated Old Fool; NRA Life; GOA Life; TSRA
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West Texas
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Re crazy glue and tampons -- this is old hat stuff. Both have been used in hospitals (along with what are colloguially called "V-Pads" or Kotex) almost from the time they were invented.
The initial research for crazy glue was for surgical purposes, primarily orthopedics. Since it had to go through the FDA approval process (five years or so) it was first released to the homeowner trade.
A modified form of superglue (sterilized, specialized containers) is used in hospital surgeries and emergency rooms for a variety of purposes: fusing bone together, adhering different kinds of tissues to each other (e.g., fascia to epidermis), adhering certain prosthetics in place (artificial hips, knees, etc., and Keflex hernia repair fabric), and for suturing certain kinds of lacerations (dry off the edges first).
Tampons (after being sterilized) are often used when a large wound has to be packed open so the scar tissue granulates from the inside to the outside. V-pads (also after being sterilized) are often used for dressing large wounds -- they're bigger than the average dressing that hospitals use.
If you are out camping or hunting and you've got superglue and tampons and tape, you've got the basic contents of a hasty-made first aid pack, even if they're not sterile. They are mostly clean and often very close to sterile as long as the package they came in hasn't been opened. Even if you do transfer some bacteria, when you get your injured party to the docs, they'll fill 'em full of antibiotics, anyway.
I would be very reluctant to pierce anyone's chest for a collapsed lung. Placement of the needle is very important -- there's lots of vessels, nerves, and organs that can get in the way. Like the docs say, "First, do no harm." I guess EMTs and paramedics and such are taught how to do this. If someone has a sucking chest wound (which is a collapsed lung) cellophane to keep air out of the chest cavity works well. I recall one guy going with the medics who had a chunk of duct tape over his bullet entrance wound.
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