Grant: Project Grant

Hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable death both for civilians and for military personnel. Internal bleeding within the torso is particularly lethal, as it cannot be controlled by compressing the wound and requires surgery. Surgery can be delayed for a few hours using non-surgical treatments, but these cannot definitively stop bleeding. Medications that stop external bleeding cannot be effectively delivered into the torso to stop bleeding. We will create a technology for managing torso bleeding with CounterFlow, a powder that we developed which is highly effective at delivering medications into bleeding wounds. CounterFlow will enable physicians to stop massive bleeding in sites without surgical capabilities using routine emergency room bedside procedures, and it will also be used by highly trained military combat medics in the field. It could prevent death from blood loss before surgery, and some injuries could be managed using CounterFlow entirely without surgery. We have already shown that CounterFlow stops several types of severe bleeds, including preliminary studies in torso bleeds. The Surgeon General of Canada has approved funding to advance CounterFlow for torso bleeds in the military setting, which would match funding from CIHR and enable future clinical testing. Here, we will create and develop this technology by (i) building a hand-held spray device to deliver CounterFlow into the torso, and fine-tuning the powder formulation; (ii) verifying in pigs that it can stop severe abdominal bleeding that cannot be treated with compression, and (iii) verifying in rabbits that it does not damage tissues or cause adverse systemic effects. This work will help decrease pre-hospital death due to bleeding. Once developed, CounterFlow is expected to be used first by the Canadian Armed Forces, and will then be transitioned to the civilian sector where it could especially impact the 20% of Canadians in rural communities that may not reside close to hospitals.