DARPA’s Wound Stasis technology could save lives

December 11, 2012

Battlefield medical care administered by first responders is often critical to the survival of injured service members. In the case of internal abdominal injuries and resulting internal hemorrhaging, however, there is currently little that can be done to stanch bleeding before the patients reach necessary treatment facilities. The resulting blood loss often leads to death from what would otherwise be potentially survivable wounds.

A foam-based technology developed under DARPA’s Wound Stasis System program has demonstrated encouraging results in testing. In test models, the foam has been shown to control hemorrhaging in a patient’s intact abdominal cavity for at least one hour. During testing, application of the product reduced blood loss six-fold and increased the rate of survival at three hours post-injury to 72 percent from the eight percent observed in controls.

Program performer Arsenal Medical, Inc. developed the product for DARPA, with additional funding from the Army Research Office.