Housecall for Health: Tourniquets

Quick thinkers during the Boston Marathon bombing used an age old method to stop victims from bleeding out.

FOX’s Colleen Cappon reports in today’s “Housecall for Health”:

ER doctors say tourniquets used correctly by fast-thinking rescuers after the Boston bombing saved countless lives and limbs. First responders utilized belts and shirts to tie off bleeding limbs.

Tourniquets have been used since the Roman Empire, but by the Vietnam War many doctors advised against them because of the risks of being used improperly.

The Red Cross says tourniquets should be at least one and a half inches wide, and pulled as tight as possible.

Housecall for Health, I’m Colleen Cappon, FOX News Radio.