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Counterfeit tourniquets are a serious problem

Two tourniquets side by side, one a Gen 7 CAT tourniquet manufactured by NARescue, the other a cheap knock off with unproven and unknown efficacy, but a reputation for breaking easily
Mike Shertz MD/18D

They may look like legitimate commercial versions but counterfeits are not made to the same quality standard. Know your gear.

Researched and written by Mike Shertz, MD/18D, not AI

🕖 Reading/viewing Time, 7 minutes

UPDATE: Fifty counterfeit CAT like tourniquets (from two different manufacturers) were compared to 25 7th-generation CAT tourniquets applied to a manikin leg with pressure sensors.

  • The counterfeits generated less than 25% of the force of a similarly applied gen 7 CAT. Both were placed with the slack pulled out and only three windlass turns.
  • The counterfeit also had a 4% catastrophic breakage rate (7th gen CAT zero breakage).

This is once again data that the counterfeit “CAT like” tourniquets widely sold out of China are inadequate for hemorrhage control.

A chart from Lagazzi E, Ballardini G, Drogo A, Viola L, Marrone E, Valente V, Bonetti M, Lee J, King DR, Ricci S. The Certification Matters: A Comparative Performance Analysis of Combat Application Tourniquets versus Non-Certified CAT Look-Alike Tourniquets. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2023 Aug;38(4):450-455. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X23006076. Epub 2023 Aug 22. PMID: 37605860 showing the rate of breakage and inadequacy of look a line CAT tourniquets

In this excerpt from our online class learn about the problem – want more? Get the full brief from our TC2 course.

You might also want to read about our TC2 student who found her school district was knowingly issuing counterfeit tourniquets during National Stop the Bleed Month.

Preview Online Training

UPDATE 29 August 2019:

Email solicitations to buy counterfeit and substandard tourniquets

We received an email from Summer this morning.

It’s bad enough that counterfeit CAT tourniquets are so widely available through Amazon and the Internet. It’s even worse when a manufacturer of those counterfeit and substandard tourniquets reaches out to you unsolicited offering to sell you some. 

Email from Chinese manufacturer of knock of CAT tourniquets

UPDATE: JANUARY, 2023

Although copies of the 6th Generation CAT tourniquets out of China are common, we had never seen a Generation 7 copy until very recently.  North American Rescue has confirmed this is the first Gen7 CAT counterfeit.

Some question why any of this matters: some say “imitation is the greatest form of flattery.” But we know nothing about the manufacturing specs of this copy and have no idea its effectiveness on casualties. Looking the same and performing the same are NOT the same.

Two tourniquets side by side, one a Gen 7 CAT tourniquet manufactured by NARescue, the other a cheap knock off with unproven and unknown efficacy, but a reputation for breaking easily
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Mike Shertz MD/18D

Dr. Mike Shertz is the Owner and Lead Instructor at Crisis Medicine. Dr. Shertz is a dual-boarded Emergency Medicine and EMS physician, having spent over 30 years gaining the experience and insight to create and provide his comprehensive, science-informed, training to better prepare everyday citizens, law enforcement, EMS, and the military to manage casualties and wounded in high-risk environments. Drawing on his prior experience as an Army Special Forces medic (18D), two decades as an armed, embedded tactical medic on a regional SWAT team, and as a Fire Service and EMS medical director. Using a combination of current and historical events, Dr. Shertz’s lectures include relevant, illustrative photos, as well as hands-on demonstrations to demystify the how, why, when to use each emergency medical procedure you need to become a Force Multiplier for Good.