Trauma Care Eased with New Package

Two trauma wounds could be sealed in emergency settings.

Seconds count when professionals are treating trauma patients in the field. Having developed life-saving emergency-care products for more than 30 years, H&H Medical Corp. has found yet another way to expedite trauma treatment--include two chest dressings in one easy-to-use package.

H&H has launched the DualSeal occlusive chest dressing pack containing two 3.75 x 3.75 sq-in. hydrogel dressings in a small package. With four tear notches marked with black triangles (two on the top side and two on the bottom side), the package eliminates the need for a larger pouch or multiple pouches, making it easier for professionals to carry and use.

"The DualSeal occlusive dressing pack is geared towards military and civilian users, primarily in emergency medicine and public safety (e.g., police, fire, EMS)," explains Corina Bilger, director of global sales, H&H Medical. "We have seen interest in the product from wilderness/adventure customers for adding this to their first aid kits. There are needs in the field to respond to a casualty with multiple puncture injuries such as gunshot entry/exit wounds. The DualSeal makes it easy for our users to have two hydrogel seals within reach to seal two wounds at once."

Custom foil packaging was selected for durability and a 5-year sterile shelf life. "Because our customers operate away from hospitals and emergency rooms, we package our products to maintain their integrity in harsh environments," said Bilger. "Products like the DualSeal will be placed in kits, packs, and gear that will reside outside and exposed to harsh environmental conditions of heat, cold, moisture, and friction. The DualSeal is packaged in a rugged foil packaging that allows it to be resistant to abrasion and puncture and to keep the hydrogel seals protected from moisture and temperatures."

The package is also tailored specifically to meet trauma professionals' needs. "Critical to the success of our product packaging is usability of opening the package in non-hospital environments. We've designed the packaging to be easy to open when users wear gloves and to be visible in low light conditions. Many of our products are carried in personally carried kits, so we packed the DualSeal to be thin and lightweight.

"Combining ease of opening with survivability means the product will be used when needed," she adds.

The package continues H&H's approach established with its other hydrogel dressings. "The packaging for the DualSeal does not differ from the packaging we use for all of our hydrogel dressings. We brought forward the lessons we learned from our other products, such as the Bolin Chest Seal, and adapted them for the DualSeal. The special foil packaging we chose provides excellent environmental protection for the product inside while maintaining the sterility of the product. And we've kept many of our lessons learned, including clearly marked tear openings on the package, to make it easier to access the product."

The pack is user tested, too. "The design of our packaging for the DualSeal was based upon our corporate experience with our customers, especially our military customers," she says. "We incorporated several lessons learned from user experience with our other hydrogel products and the packaging and product goes through bench and operational evaluation by experienced users prior to production.

"For our customers, working in the field on casualties requiring point-of-injury care, the usability of packaging is crucial to product success," she continues. "When an emergency arises, having an easy to open product can shave seconds off response time."

More information about the DualSeal occlusive chest dressing pack can be found here. 

Learn more about user-centered design at the Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East 2017 conference June 13-15. 

Daphne Allen is executive editor of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News and a contributor to Qmed. Reach her at [email protected] and on Twitter at @daphneallen