Look at the picture and what do you see? Try to ignore the exceptionally good looking Navy dude in the photo and instead focus on what he is holding. In one hand we have a combat action tourniquet (CAT) and in the other we have a “combat action tourniquet.” Can you tell which is which?
Two days ago I received 300 medical bags for a new training initiative I have scheduled to start soon. When I opened them up I was happy to see that each bag included two tourniquets. What made it even better was that these were not just cheap Afghan tourniquets but rather the same make and model of those we carry in our American medic bags. I was impressed that they were sending us such good stuff.
Well today my joy was replaced with disappointment. I pulled out one of the tourniquets to test it out and in about 10 seconds I realized that although it looked like a CAT tourniquet and felt like a CAT tourniquet and even smelled like a CAT tourniquet...it definitely was not a CAT tourniquet. This imitation was pretty good. They copied it down to nearly every last detail. However, one thing ultimately gave the creator of this imitation away...the tourniquet didn’t work. That’s right, every detail was copied exactly as its model. However, when they went to put it together, they put it together in such a way that it doesn’t work. You would have guessed they might have at least tried it once before sending their forgeries out the door.
Now don’t get me wrong. This is not a really surprising event. Almost everything you can buy at the bazaar here is a knock off of the real thing. You might think you are buying a Sony TV, but you aren’t. Those sunglasses look like Oakley’s, but trust me they only cost $10 for a reason. Those rubies and precious gems they are selling are about as valuable as my girl’s dress up jewelry. That pair of Nike shoes was probably made in China, but not in the real Nike factory. It is pretty interesting to see how deceitful or should we just say creative these vendors can be.
So if anyone needs any very nice looking, although completely useless tourniquets, let me know. In fact if you buy 2 tourniquets now at the extremely low price of $29.99 (plus shipping and handling) I will throw in a free tourniquet at no additional cost. Still not convinced, well then for the next 30 callers I will also send a copy of “Microsoft Office” (guaranteed to contain no fewer than five viruses) absolutely free. You couldn’t ask for a better offer than that.
All joking aside, it is pretty sad that a “company” would send out a a tourniquet that doesn’t actually tighten to the Afghan security forces. In my mind it is almost criminal. Imagine an Afghan police officer, with a life threatening amputation, reaching for the one thing that might save his life, his CAT tourniquet, only to discover as he is bleeding to death that it doesn’t actually work. I’m glad we made our discovery today, before anything bad really could happen.
5 comments:
Wow...that is really scary! Also, you look very thin and tired--are they feeding you over there?
I bet the one in your left hand is the real thing. Am I right!? Man, that really stinks! We love you!
Justin, what a scary situation! I'm glad you discovered the discrepancy BEFORE there was a huge emergency. Way to go!
The first thing we did was enlarge the picture so we could get a better look at the two tourniquets but our attention was focused on the handsome Navy officer! We think you look great. We, also, were wondering which was real and which one wasn't. Our vote is for the one in your left hand. Is that right? We love you lots.
Love, Mom and Dad
The one in my left hand is the real one.
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