An Ultra-Simple Tourniquet That’s Saving Soldiers’ Lives

...Ziba has won awards for its work for Adidas, Costco, and Logitech, but designing for users who are pinned down by sniper fire was a new experience. In response, they tossed their sketchpads and CAD workstations and opted to prototype solutions by crawling on the floor of their studio and dodging imaginary mortar shells. They whipped up prototypes made from duct tape and scrap materials.

The result is the SAM Junctional Tourniquet, which weighs just over a pound and can be deployed in under 25 seconds, a critical benefit where medics only have about 90 seconds to save their patient’s life. Its simple, belt-like appearance belies important innovations...