cbr said:
Ok, so what the hell. I hear so many varying stories about tourniquets and cpr.
What is the real deal on each?
Tourniquets - if it's a proper device (wide enough to avoid damage to tissue underneath and with a windlass to give mechanical advantage to the tension) applied correctly, it can be left in place for hours with little permanent damage. The old adage was to apply one only if it came down to the patient either losing their life or their limb but data from combat victims has shown otherwise.
Stop The Bleed and other current bleeding control classes teach non- medical civilians to go straight to a tourniquet if the bleeding looks serious.
CPR- the American Heart Association preaches now that it's all about chest compressions for non-medical folks. It takes several compressions to get arterial pressure up enough to circulate blood and lengthy pauses for airway and ventilation are bad.