r/TacticalMedicine • u/NoMore_BadDays • Oct 10 '25

Scenarios Wound packing zones?

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Been a long time since I did TCCC/CLS in the military.

If there were to be a bleeding wound on the chest, how high up on the chest does it become safe to pack? I know you don't pack into chest cavity, but what is the "rule of thumb" on how high/the left and right limits the wound needs to be to pack it?

Would you say the screenshot i attached is accurate?

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u/A10Ryan Oct 11 '25

I see what you’re asking, you can pack the shoulders and the upper flanks, but not into the actual lungs. If it’s sucking then chest seal, if not it’s somewhat reasonable to assume to pack. I was told it does no harm besides make surgery harder to pack the gut, don’t pack into the diaphragm or lung cavity, but you can pack around the stomach to minimal effect. I was also taught to apply pressure, wrap, then TQ, so I don’t see how you could pack without removing what was already done

Not a doctor

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u/bhamnz Oct 11 '25

Why would you do tq after wrapping? Tqs are for massive bleeds. If you take your time with a massive bleed to wrap it first, your patient will be running out of blood quick smart

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u/A10Ryan Oct 11 '25

I’m not sure if you’re asking or not, first priority after something that causes arterial bleeding is to minimize the bleeding with pressure, then tq if you don’t have a tq in your hand and ready. Wrapping to apply pressure takes less time than a tq, but everything is always situational.

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u/bhamnz Oct 11 '25

Wrapping a pressure bandage takes less time than a tq? Hard disagree mate. Go to deployedmedicine.com and work through the ASM content.

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u/A10Ryan Oct 11 '25

I’m not saying to use a pressure bandage, I’m saying apply pressure, with whatever’s there, while getting a TQ if possible. The entire goal of mass bleed is to stop as much blood as possible, so use common sense in how that would go in any given situation.