Although the risks of using saline bags to position patients was explained in an article published by JAMA Surgery five years ago, this practice is still widely used by staff at surgical centers across the country. It is very important that you are aware of the risks involved when doing so. These bags can lead to nerve or skin damage, pressure ulcers or worse, if there is a small leak in the bag, severe electrical burns to the patient. More information about the dangers of using saline bags as positioners and photos of actual patient injuries can be found in this article: Don’t Use Saline Bags to Position Patients, which was published by Outpatient Surgery Magazine last week. As suggested by the article, you are far better off investing in gel positioning rolls, which are specifically designed for this purpose.

Tactical Medicine (TM) is a discipline that specializes in the emergency medical support and services required to support the mental and physical health and the overall safety of law enforcement and military special operations (i.e., SWAT) personnel during critical incidents and training.