For those who aren't in the medical field, you're going to see a lot of people who are in the medical field saying they rarely used them in their careers.

This is partially because you really don't need them for the vast majority of cases, but also because for a long time it was thought that tourniquets would cause more harm than good if not needed and protocols tended to reflect that.

Through evidence based practice, experiences in combat has changed that mentality over time and slowly some departments started de-stigmatizing them as data regarding how long they can safely be applied has trickled down and become better understood. A properly designed tourniquet, properly placed, will not cause lasting tissue damage over the time periods we will most likely encounter before the patient is handed over to higher medical care. Further, if it turns out a tourniquet is not needed, it can generally be converted in the field to a regular pressure dressing safely (there are some caveats with regards to the time window in which this is considered safe, and how to do it).

I suspect, to a lot of people, it seems like a KISS solution to arrest extremity bleeding, and now that "being prepared" has become in vogue this last decade or so, it's unsurprising that their popularity has risen given their military use and recent proliferation in public safety circles.

We know that a lot of people tend to buy gear over training (unfortunately) and it's become a sort of badge of pride to acquire the cool stuff the Government uses -- but to a layperson who may not have ever really seen significant bleeding before in their lives, any amount of blood could very well be an alarming amount to them, which may result in a trend of tourniquets being used as first line rather than last resort.

Preaching to the choir here of course, but a lot of this can be mitigated through education and I really hope we see a day where the average person becomes literate in basic first aid even out of high school.