Le garrot hémostatique

The recent terrorist attacks in France and all over the world have exposed medical teams to situations comparable to war. The majority of potentially avoidable deaths on the battlefield are due to bleeding. In order to reduce this mortality, numerous means exist to control these hemorrhages, including tourniquet for extremity wounds. After a general presentation of tourniquets, studies evaluating this technique in the military and the civilian settings are analysed. The most effective tourniquets are dedicated tourniquets, especially the combat application tourniquet (CAT), the special operation forces tactical tourniquet (SOFTT) and the Emergency & Military Tourniquet (EMT). Tourniquets are widely used in the field and can save lives. On the basis of this literature review and current guidelines, instructions for using tourniquets are proposed.