NAR Wound Packing Gauze

Some wounds are in places a tourniquet cannot reach: the groin, the armpit, the base of the neck. There the way to stop the bleed is to pack the wound, feeding gauze down into it until the cavity is full and then holding hard direct pressure on top. That takes a lot of gauze you can get out fast and that is what North American Rescue’s Wound Packing Gauze is for.

It is five yards of soft 1-ply gauze, 3 inches wide and Z-folded. The Z-fold matters when your hands are slick: the gauze feeds out in one continuous line as you pack with no roll to drop or chase. You can also pull the whole thing out as one unit and use it as a bulky dressing.

The gauze is sterile and pliable so it handles easily and conforms to the shape of the wound. An X-ray detectable line is embedded in it so the surgical team can find all of it later. Beyond packing, it works as backing gauze behind a hemostatic dressing, under a compression bandage to control hemorrhage or for ordinary minor wound bandaging.

It comes vacuum sealed in a rugged package about 3 by 2 by 1 inches and 1.2 oz, small enough that there is no reason to carry only one. Put one in your IFAK, a couple in the range bag and a few more in the medic kit, next to your C-A-T tourniquet and chest seals.

Wound packing is a skill and it is not a gentle one. Take a Stop the Bleed or TCCC course and learn to do it right before you need it.

Gauze: 3 in. x 5 yd
1-ply
Packaged: H 3 in. x W 2 in. x D 1 in.

Brand: North American Rescue
NAR item number: 30-0054
NSN: 6510-01-695-5824
Soft white 1-ply gauze
Sterile
Indicated for use as a wound packing gauze
Embedded X-ray detectable line
Z-fold allows controlled application as a complete unit or in a continuous linear feed
Used as backing gauze for hemostatic agents, with a compression bandage to control hemorrhage or for minor wound bandaging
Plain gauze with no hemostatic agent
Vacuum sealed packaging
Weight: 1.2 oz