Page 149 - JSOM Fall 2018
P. 149

FDA Approves Clinical Trial for                    approved the first drug intended to treat smallpox—a move
              Potentially Lifesaving Trauma Foam                 that could halt a lethal pandemic if the virus were to be re­
                                                                 leased as a terrorist bioweapon or through a laboratory acci­
              As report by CBS NEWS on July 11, 2018, 6:29 PM, the FDA   dent. The antiviral pill, tecovirimat, also known as Tpoxx, has
              has approved the use of a potentially lifesaving foam on up   never been tested in humans with smallpox because the disease
              to 40 patients in a clinical trial at a Boston hospital. Called   was declared eradicated in 1980, 3 years after the last known
              ResQFoam, it was created to quickly stop internal bleeding in   case. However, it was very effective at protecting animals de­
              trauma patients. “It’s remarkable and it’s very exciting for us,”   liberately infected with monkeypox and rabbitpox, two re­
              said Dr David King, a trauma surgeon at Massachusetts Gen-  lated diseases that can be lethal. It also caused no severe side
              eral Hospital and JSOM editor. The product was developed   effects when safety­tested in 359 healthy human volunteers,
              by Dr King and a team from Arsenal Medical in Watertown,   the FDA said. For more information, see https://www.nytimes.
              Massachusetts. King said it will allow doctors “to intervene   com/2018/07/13/health/smallpox­drug­fda­bioterrorism.html
              and temporarily stop bleeding patients essentially the moment
              they arrive in the emergency department.” The foam starts as   Anthony Acevedo, an Army Medic Who
              two liquids injected into the body through the belly button,   Documented His Holocaust Ordeal, Dies at 93
              then it expands in the abdomen. “It wraps around injured
              tissues and injured organs and puts gentle pressure on them        Anthony Acevedo, a 20­year­old Army
              which temporarily slows or stops hemorrhage,” he explained.        medic, had been captured during the
                                                                                 Battle of the Bulge when a Red Cross
              As a surgeon in the US Army Reserve Medical Corps, King            care package containing a diary and a
              knows how critical time is when it comes to blood loss. He has     fountain pen arrived in March 1945
              treated fellow Soldiers on the battlefield and victims of trauma   at the Nazi slave labor camp where he
              on the home front.                                                 was imprisoned. Mr Acevedo provided a
                                                                                 rare accounting of Nazi atrocities by an
              “When you’re suffering from internal bleeding, we don’t know   American prisoner of war. For the full story, please see https://
              how much time you have because no one can see what types of   www.nytimes.com/2018/03/16/obituaries/anthony­acevedo
              injuries you have on the inside,” King said. He said he hopes   ­who­documented­his­holocaust­ordeal­dies­at­93.html
              ResQFoam will give many more patients a fighting chance.

              Quoted from DCR Foam News  https://www.cbsnews.com
              /news/resqfoam­fda­approves­clinical­trial­for­potentially
              ­life­saving­trauma­foam/
              Another Civilian Tourniquet Application
              That Saved a Life
              A construction team  was working on grading  an adjacent
              empty lot, reports Rob Miller of North American Rescue LLC.
              In trying to jump start some heavy machinery, the fan or belts
              pulled in the arm of a worker. Rob ran to his desk, pulled out
              a bleeder kit, and ran across the parking to the victim. The
              workers were using the towel to put pressure and a belt was
              wrapped twice but not having much effect. Rob says, “I lifted
              the towel and saw a bright red squirt of blood, so I pulled out
              the tourniquet and unlooped it, ran it under his armpit, fed
              and pulled as directed, wrapped, and twisted the rod. I had   “Hero” Rats Detect Landmines
              to go three turns before the blood stopped gushing out. Stabi­  APOPO is a nonprofit organization that trains African giant
              lized him and went through the MARCH steps and did what I   pouched  rats to save lives by detecting  landmines and tu­
              could.” The police arrived 17 minutes after the call, and para­  berculosis. An estimated 4 to 6 million landmines are scattered
              medics arrived 20 minutes and told Rob that his action saved   throughout Cambodia; each “hero rat” rat is responsible for
              the man’s life!
                                                                 clearing a 200­square­meter  area. These animals are light
                                                                 enough to walk over the mines without setting them off, and
              Drug to Treat Smallpox Approved by the FDA,        they use their noses to find the explosives quickly. For more
              a Move Against Bioterrorism
                                                                 information, see  https://www.apopo.org/en and  https://news
              As reported by Donald G. McNeil Jr in The New York Times   .nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151006­giant­rats­land
              on July 13, 2018, the US Food and Drug Administration   mines­cambodia­science­animals/






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