Patent ID: 7842067

Claim:
A tourniquet for restricting a flow of blood in a body part, the tourniquet comprising: (a) an outer sleeve; (b) an inner strap in slidable engagement with the outer sleeve, wherein prior to contacting the outer sleeve to the body part, at least a portion of the inner strap is anchored to the outer sleeve; (c) a windlass connected to the inner strap, wherein the windlass is adapted to be rotated such that when the windlass is rotated a portion of the inner strap is twisted, shortening an effective length of the inner strap; and (d) a restraining mechanism connected to the outer sleeve, the restraining mechanism adapted for receiving an end of the outer sleeve; wherein the inner strap forms a continuous loop extending from a first end of the outer sleeve to at least the windlass and back to the first end of the outer sleeve; and wherein a radial compressive force is applied to the body part upon applying a tensile force to the inner strap by rotating the windlass, wherein the radial compressive force restricts the flow of blood in the body part.