Bone Injector Gun (Intraosseous)

Tipped off by MedGadget, I checked out this artticle on Israel21c, about the Israeli Army's use of this intraosseous device, excerpted below..

Whether on the battlefield or in the emergency room, when first responders arrive to treat a critically injured patient, they sometimes cannot administer vitally needed intravenous fluid.

Either the veins have collapsed or in the cases when blood pressure is low, such as heart attacks or unconsciousness, veins contract and are hard to find.

American emergency personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan know this as well as anyone, which is why they've come to rely on a novel Israeli-made device - WaisMed's Bone Injection Gun (BIG) which enables a medic to bypass the veins and penetrate the tibia within seconds to inject saline or medications into the marrow.

The BIG is the world's first automatic intraosseous (IO) infusion device, and was invented by Dr. Marc Waisman - an orthopedic surgeon. Not quite a needle, the device is described by WaisMed's CEO Mickey Flint as "a simple tube with a trigger that is released."

This "simple tube" is saving lives around the world. It is being used throughout the American military - not only by many units in Iraq and Afghanistan - but also by the CIA, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services. Other customers include American hospitals, emergency medical service providers and fire departments.