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becomes bloodstained or starts leaking. Rebleeding is far Disclosures
harder to detect with conventional bandages. The authors have nothing to disclose.
FIGURE 7 Visualization of wound packing materials through plastic Funding
packaging wrap.
No funding was received for this work.
References
1. Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care. Current Tactical
Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Guidelines. Joint Trauma System.
Published January 25, 2024. Accessed August 25, 2025. https://
books.allogy.com/web/tenant/8/books/b729b76a-1a34-
4bf7-b76b-66bb2072b2a7/
2. Farr J. “Cellophane” for the Treatment of Burns. Br Med J.
1944;1(4352):749–750. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4352.749
3. Abidin ZU, Ilyas A, Khalid FA, et al. Application of cling film over
burn wounds (occlusive wound dressing): our experience. J Ayub
Med Coll Abbottabad. 2021;33(2):236–239.
4. Takahashi J, Nakae K, Yokota O, Nakata R, Hasegawa H, Mi-
yagawa M. Comparison of “semi-occlusive dressing” treatment us-
ing plastic wrap or low-adherent absorbent wound dressings versus
occlusive dressing treatment for stage III/IV pressure injuries in the
inflammatory phase: a randomized controlled trial. Adv Wound
Care (New Rochelle). 2024. doi:10.1089/wound.2024.0041
5. Imran D, Sassoon E, Lewis D. Protection of dressings and wounds
by cling film. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2004;113(3):1093–1094. doi:
10.1097/01.prs.0000107737.67371.d7

PMID: 41066736; DOI: 10.55460/Q77X-YTIP

Discussion
Plastic packaging wrap has a multitude of uses in an aus-
tere environment with respect to improvising bandages and
dressings and securing devices when dedicated materials are
unavailable or in short supply. Although this material is not
sterile, it is clean and can be used to secure sterile dressing
or packing materials where external sterility is impossible to
maintain and only clean protective barriers or dressings are
required. The use of plastic packaging wrap is not meant to
replace commercially available approved products but rather
to assist in packaging and other uses in austere, remote, and
tactical environments, where space and weight are critical. In
such settings, medical equipment must often be carried along
with a large amount of additional equipment. Therefore, plas-
tic packaging wrap may be a very useful adjunct to lighten the
load of conventional dressings and allow the effective manage-
ment of more patients and more wounds with less equipment.
Although there are some documented medical uses of this
material, including for pressure injuries and certain wounds,
5
4
the authors found no current recommendations for the use of
plastic packaging wrap in austere and tactical environments
and recommend that it be considered as a potential additional
tool in such settings.

Conclusion
It is often impossible to carry all desired medical equipment,
and difficult choices have to be made to save weight and pack
size. Items that have multiple uses and augment the use of
other medical items are always desirable. In this article we de-
scribed how plastic packaging wrap can be a valuable tool in
austere, remote, and tactical environments.

Author Contributions
PT, AH, and TI conceived the article concept. PT wrote the
first draft, and all authors contributed to the editing, reading
and approval of the final manuscript.

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