eli5 : why do ordinary soldiers carry multiple tourniquets but tourniquets are mostly not used in civilian first aid?
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Because tourniquets are one of most the last-ditch things you’d use in terms of medical equipment, and only very rarely in civilian life are they useful.
Not only are they astonishingly painful to apply (many people say it’s the worst pain they’ve ever experienced, some amputees say the tourniquet was worse than the actual loss of the limb), but they in invariably result in at least some tissue loss due to lack of circulation. They’re generally only used in case of massive blood loss, commonly a missing limb. Given that missing limbs don’t happen often, and safer, less extreme measures can be done with a little more time in most circumstances, they’re not common in run-of-the-mill medicine.
However, injuries resulting in massive blood loss *are* a real risk in the military, and not only does everybody need to be prepared to administer first aid, but they have to be ready to do so while being shot at.
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