Telfa dressings

[nomofica]

Anyone use these things?

Pros?
Cons?

 

[AJ Hidell]

There's not just a whole lot of application for them in field EMS. The whole benefit of Telfa is that it does not stick. It's great for dressing oozing and granulating wounds for long periods without sticking to the wound. EMS isn't dressing anything for very long. We're just absorbing blood and blocking debris for the next fifteen minutes, with little concern for long term sticking. We used to use Telfa pads for dressing IV sites back in the 70s, before OpSite and other clear IV dressings were invented. Since then, I have found no particular EMS need for them.

In clinical practice, I use them almost exclusively for burns, abrasions, and any other oozing or granulating wound, as well as to cover any proud flesh such as blisters or ingrown toenails. I love Telfa. But again, I can't think of any reason for EMS to spend the money on it.

 

[nomofica]

So definitely more of a home/outdoors application then?

I was thinking of buying some for my personal jump bag that I'll be taking with me on all my event staff/volunteer gigs.

 

[AJ Hidell]

Yeah, great stuff to have at home or in a personal "first aid" kit (as opposed to "trauma" kit). Pretty much anything you're going to leave on for more than half an hour would benefit from using Telfa in place of gauze. Anything where you don't want the gauze fibers sticking to your wound is where you'd want to use it. Again, burns and abrasions are the two most common applications. In addition to not sticking, they are also smother and are not as irritating as they rub across sensitive wounds or skin. Telfa (or something similar) is what is used in many high quality adhesive bandages, so you might look for those when buying Band Aids too. They cost a little more than the generics, but sure hurt less coming off!

 

[nomofica]

Well, I'm doing med crew for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer and the Ride to Conquer Cancer events, which are both 2-day events (the latter is a 600km bike ride from Calgary through the Canadian Rockies and hospitals will be very few and far in between. I'll most likely pick some of this stuff up for the nice abrasions I'll see due to people falling off of their bikes. Probably end up treating the same people for heat exhaustion...

 

[8jimi8]

telfa is great stuff. I have used it in on pressure sores and surgical sites. You are mighty generous to be packing your own personal bag with it!

 

[HNcorpsman]

good for smallpox vaccinations

 

[mycrofft]

I dislike Telfa A lot.

Traps moisture on a wound long term, but does not promote clotting short term. Slips on wound if the subject moves around, unless you bandage the heck out of it.

For clotting: plain 4X4 gauze. NOT "combine" or other Kotex-like compresses, the clot goes into the compress not the wound.

For non-stick application: Adaptic under gauze (sterile Vaseline mesh compress, allows drainage or medicine through but does not stick, and the sterile package is occlusive, hint hint). NOT Xeroform for a field kit.

To hold compresses on: Medirip self-adhering elastic (not gauze) dressing.

 

[Airwaygoddess]

Telfa is used more in the clinical setting, I do like them for patients with "thin skin" these folks skin can tear very easily, age, medications ( predisone for one!) and diease processes.