The use of a tourniquet in the shaking hands of a inexperienced person who doesn't really know what they're doing is virtually guaranteed to be a disaster.

If you're in a situation with a doctor or veterinarian tending to you, they probably know what to do, and how to do it with the minimal amount of damage. But under most conditions, performed by an untrained, frightened, shaky Good Samaritan, the limb will start to die in about 20 minutes.

Yes, if the arm or leg has been mostly ripped off or blown off (or the arm is stuck under a boulder & you have to cut it off), get the tourniquet on, as your choices are non-existent. But some (most?) people are so upset at the sight of a goodly amount of blood that they don't consider the consequences of their first and only thought: stop the bleeding with a tourniquet. It's simple and easy. They've seen John Wayne do it.

Tourniquets: Create-A-Cripple in one easy step.

Sue