Anti Bleeding Shrimp Shell Bandage Saving Thousands of Lives in Ukraine

The bandages are coated with an extract known as chitosan (Gel Like) that can stem the bleeding by forming clots.

Dr Iryna Rybinkina, a consultant cardiac anesthetist, who volunteers for the charity Smart Medical Aid, left her job in Brighton to train medics on the front line and has used the bandages many times.

Dr Iryna Rybinkina said:The first thing is your put a tourniquet on, and then you try to stop the bleed by packing the wound.So if there is a re-bleed, then you repack the one you take out and you put that in.

This coated bandage is also used by USA and UK military.

Chitosan /ˈkaɪtəsæn/ is a linear polysaccharide composed of randomly distributed β-(1→4)-linked D-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated unit). It is made by treating the chitin shells of shrimp and other crustaceans with an alkaline substance, such as sodium hydroxide.

Chitosan is extracted from shrimp shells and then purified. When it comes into contact with blood it swells into a gel to make a clot.

It's been saving a lot of lives, thousands of them in Ukraine- Russia War.