A blood pressure cuff is a pretty good idea, thanks. I'll see if I can find one cheaply. Still open to other suggestions, in the meantime.
I wouldn't use a tourniquet, especially if you're going to pass out. Direct pressure is the only way to help contol bleeding and not lose your leg in the process.
You're probably not going to lose your leg from a tourniquet if help isn't that far away. The limbs can go for a pretty long time with very little blood flow. For example, the legs can survive 4-5 hours with NO blood supply.
If you're alone and you pass out, you won't be maintaining direct pressure. Then you're dead.
If you do use a tourniquet on yourself, be sure to mark your forehead with a "T" (using marker or your own blood if you have to) to make it more likely that any rescuers and ER doctors are aware that you have a tourniquet in place.
The admonishment not to use a tourniquet really only applies authoritatively to situations in which help is far enough away that limb loss is very likely. And as was mentioned in the active first aid thread in the Practical Tactical section, a tourniquet can be very helpful in stopping bleeding until an effective pressure dressing can be applied, and then the tourniquet is slowly loosened.
Check out Quikclot and the Z-Medica sites for an interesting alternative. It's usable even where a tourniquet wouldn't be (such as the femoral artery too high on the leg to fit a tourniquet)
They used to have a video of testing of this stuff on a pig (sedated pig in medical conditions, slashed the femoral artery and poured a pack on, just about instant stabalization) but I can't seem to find it on their site. I'd bet that they got too many complaints. All the same, I bought a pack of this stuff for my bag and pray I never need it.
I am aware of QuikClot. I've been meaning to order some. It does have a couple problems with it, though. It can generate a lot of heat in the reaction (hot enough to easily cause 2nd-degree burns). It can also give one a tendency to think it's going to work like magic, which can be a dangerous mentality if it doesn't work. There have been cases in Iraq that I've read about in which QuikClot did not always stop bleeding. Keep in mind that they dump a bucket of the stuff into the pig in the video, but the packet contains only a little bit. [Edit: Actually, I was thinking of the tiny little packets they were talking about for regular civilian sale. It actually is a military packet they pour into the wound. I hadn't watched the video in quite awhile.] But it's a wonderful product and is definitely worth using on a serious wound.
I have the video you're talking about. If you like, I can upload it to my website for whoever wants it.
