Pelvic girdle - tourniquet for the pelvis
In the event of trauma to the pelvis, for example in traffic accidents, a pelvic fracture can occur. The pelvis is shaped like a cone and if you bleed there, the amount of bleeding is normally limited by the space there. If, on the other hand, you have a fracture, the size of the "cone" risks increasing and you can thus bleed out a significantly larger amount of blood. This is where a pelvic girdle comes in. It's like a tourniquet of sorts for the pelvis. It compresses the pelvis, or holds it in place, so the pelvis cannot expand. A pelvic fracture with bleeding can hold between 4 and 7 liters of blood, which is approximately the total blood volume of an adult person.
Investigate
In the case of trauma, you should always examine the pelvis as part of L-ABCDE. This is something that is only recommended to be done once. If it is unstable, you should not continue to investigate but immediately apply a pelvic girdle. If it is stable, no pelvic girdle is needed and the pelvis does not need to be examined again.
Apply pelvic girdle
If the pelvis is unstable on examination, a pelvic girdle should be applied. There are several different models on the market, and if you don't have a specific pelvic girdle, you can use a pull sheet instead.
- Remove any mobile phones, keys or wallet
- Grasp the end of the buckle and slide your hand under your legs.
- Grab a person on each side and scissor up the pelvic girdle
- Thread through pelvic girdle
- Pull on one end and only use restraints to keep it from rotating
- Pull until it says click and then fasten it with the velcro fastener
A person's application
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFJgs4N4it8
Two person application
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A7GuEEsP5Q
Fitted sheets
If you do not have a pelvic girdle, you can use a traction sheet or similar that is not elastic. For up and that in the same way as above. Now you should instead rotate the two ends around each other and make it to the right tension level and then fasten it.
