A third shark attack has been reported in the Whitsunday Islands, and this time it was fatal. The man reported by news.com.au was a 33-year-old Melbourne Physician. Police said the man had gone paddle boarding and then swimming in Cid Harbor before he was bitten about 5:30pm. The man had what was described as horrific wounds to his left thigh, right calf, and left wrist. He later died at the hospital due to massive blood loss, and hypovolemic shock complications. Recently, a mother of two was bitten on her left thigh while snorkeling, and the next day a child was bitten on her right leg; her wound was said to have been life-threatening and her leg was later amputated. Authorities, say these have been the most severe and highest number of incidents in recorded history for the Whitsunday Islands.
What’s can be learned from these tragedies? Remember, sharks account for only a small percentage of water borne injuries, however, you should always be prepared for all possible emergencies (Culls don't work). Most people only prepare for drowning, and not for trauma and or bleeding injuries. Since many bleeding control tools use sterile gauze that is incompatible with water use, and carrying on your body in the water the best solution is to carry the appropriate tourniquet for the water. The only tourniquets specifically designed for the water, and made durable enough to withstand the saltwater and high UV environment are OMNA. While other tourniquets claim to be everything to everyone, that’s really just their marketing people trying to sell tourniquets. Only OMNA makes tourniquets specific for the water, which is evident in their higher quality materials, construction, and integration into common water sports equipment and surf accessories.
OMNA Tourniquet Leashes and or Tourniquet Leg Ropes provide the best and most rapid tourniquet solution for the water. Other tourniquets such as the windlass style have been shown to have a substantial loss in effectiveness when removed from their packaging. For example, a recent study showed that the cat tourniquet effectiveness dropped to 57% when carried outside of its protective plastic packaging. Therefore, in order to ensure your tourniquet is effective and can be with you at all times in or on the water the solution is clearly an OMNA Tourniquet.
Furthermore, surfers and paddle boarders are often the most likely to have a shark interaction that results in injury. Improvised tourniquets such as using a leg rope, leash, or other materials have been shown to have a 75% or greater failure rate in studies, and shark attack studies have shown the best chance of survival is how fast you can apply a pre-hospital tourniquet. The OMNA tourniquet can be applied in as fast as 10 seconds, which is substantially faster than others. If in the surf, your OMNA tourniquet will be immediately available, with a water specific design, engineered for rapid water tourniquet application. The OMNA tourniquet motto is: Better in the water, just as good on land.
