Anti-Shock Garment
Incorporating technology from a NASA project of the 1970s,
a new type of anti-shock garment for paramedic use essentially
reverses the effect of shock on the body's blood distribution.
In shock, the brain, heart and lungs may suffer loss of oxygen
because blood accumulates in the lower abdomen and legs; the
anti-shock garment applies external counterpressure to the legs
and abdomen and returns blood to the vital organs, stabilizing
body pressure until the patient reaches a hospital.
Known as DMAST (for Dyna Med Anti-Shock Trousers), the garment
was developed by Zoex Corporation, Palo Alto, California and
it is distributed exclusively by Dyna Med, Carlsbad, California.
There are more than 1,000 suits in use.
Paramedics fit a shock victim with a Dyna-Med anti-shock garment.
Unlike other pressure suits, DMAST is non-inflatable, and
it employs lower pressures than other pressure garments for flight
and emergency uses. Because it is non-inflatable, it has no tubes,
bladders or valves, hence no risk of punctures or leaks. Its
simple, one-piece design makes application fast (less than 60
seconds) and easy.
DMAST has demonstrated effectiveness in treating shock from
trauma induced by natural disasters or military actions, complications
of pregnancy, ruptured internal organs, severe allergic reactions,
brain injury and pediatric emergencies. In addition to shunting
blood from the patient's legs and abdomen to the heart, lungs
and brain, the evenly and sequentially applied counterpressures
help curb internal bleeding.
The DMAST technology traces its origin back to 1971, when
Ames Research Center was developing a prototype pressure suit
designed to protect hemophiliac children from bleeding into elbow
and knee joints by straightening and compressing the joint until
medical attention was available. Lack of funding forced Ames
to curtail the project, but Zoex Corporation picked up the development.
Sheri Hillenga, one of the Ames team that had worked on the suit,
joined Zoex.
Zoex adopted the low pressure approach and, after years of
research, developed a garment that worked successfully. The company
obtained patents for the suit in 1992 and the following year
teamed with Dyna Med, a medical supply catalog company, to market
the product. Sheri Hillenga, operating as VMH Visual Communications,
assists Zoex in a marketing capacity and conducts public service
demonstrations of the anti-shock garment.
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