Can they be left in my truck when it's below freezing?

@@truehope287 no idea

@@chasevogt2090 Darn! The package doesn't say a word about storage.

@@truehope287 Excessive cold or heat will more than likely degrade the vent inside. I would keep it inside to be safe.

How does this stop bleeding.

It is vented. By design. It’s designed to let pressure out but not in. This helps protect from unwanted pressure building up inside the body which could cause a collapsed lung. It’s basically a one way valve. That’s why it’s called a vent chest seal. Hope this helps. Stay safe.

@@Noahs_Crazy_Kid Thanks a lot for the clear explanation :)

The package says “vent” on it. I wonder if they still make them unvented. Something to look out for!

You do NOT pack the wound with the gauze first. The chest seal is designed to allow the exhalation of air through the wound to reduce the chance of tension pneumothorax. It won't hurt to place these chest seals on any chest wound, but prioritize the wounds depending on their location. If there is only one entry/exit, you can use chest seals on both sides, provided that the blood flow is not heavy. Heavy blood flow - Pack and Pressure. In general, the closer the wound is to the lungs takes priority. Next, prioritize one on each the left and right side if there are multiple gunshot wounds to the chest. Any other wounds after this could be packed with gauze and/or pressure applied until EMS arrives. Then, if the patient is falling out, do CPR (chest compressions only). Also, check the legs to see if there is any significant blood loss that needs pressure / a tourniquet. Best of luck, and stay calm.

NEVER pack an open chest wound with gauze unless there is serious uncontrolled bleeding.

A year late to your comment, sorry, but the product is simply plastic with an adhesive backing, there should be no issues with cold weather, however the adhesive may degrade over time.

sorry to respond late but yeah you would want to seal both sides, both front and back wounds can give you a sucking chest wound which is a big no no.

Only burp if difficulty breathing increases and or decreased lung sounds on the affected side or tracheal deviation, which is an extremely late sign of a tension pneumo... If you are a medic you will dart the affected side if the symptoms persist.

Both are needed and should be taught by professional medics. Old chest seal(not vented) stop air from going in but also prevent blood and air pressure from coming out. With the new vented chest seal, they fixed that. You can still get tension hemithorax, so knowing how to use a "dart" is important to relive the hemithorax.

Hope someone more knowledgeable would jump in, but I’ll share my thoughts. Air is more important than blood. I mean, blood is pretty close behind, tho. So deal with that next! The plastic should be close enough to the skin that it gets sucked in on the inhale, making a good seal. And all we’d be doing is just allowing an injured person to survive to have the EMTs come. The EMTs are allowing the them to survive until they get to a surgeon. Edit: I don’t think that’s that much blood in a chest wound for concern with blood loss (for awhile). Not like hitting a major artery.

Stopping massive hemorrhage is important but you can’t do much outside of an operating room. You need to repair organs and if blood vessels are hit, you can’t pack the chest because there is no solid tissue. The way the seal works is when you exhale the vents are open, but when you in hale the negative pressure in the chest closes the vents. It’s kinda like when you try to breath with a plastic bag over your mouth. You can blow air out but once you breath in the bag seals against your mouth. Same concept with seals.

You can't do pretty much anything to stop bleeding in case of chest/stomach injuries outside of hospital. With chest ones you just can make sure to prevent pneumothorax with chest seal and only IF you're trained with a decompression needle. And in case with stomach wounds you can only cover it with non pressing bandage. And if there is a penetrating object, i.e. knife, making sure it doesn't move but never pull anything out. So yeah, pretty much you can just do that and pray nothing major is damaged.

Because a guy with chest hair would experience some issues getting that thing off. XD In real life, use a razor to shave the area first (if you have time). This should ideally only take a few seconds. If not, just slap the seal on and hit the road.