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An emergency treatment for gunshot wounds that has been in use in the military has been approved for use in the United States, giving police and other emergency first responders another tool to respond to mass shootings that occur with increasing frequency in the United States.

The product is called XSTAT 30, and essentially is a number of small sponges that are injected into a gunshot wound and plug the wound, slowing and stopping the loss of blood, the Food and Drug Administration said in a press release.

The new treatment could make a serious dent in the 30 to 40 percent of people that die from bleeding after gunshots. The treatment is revolutionary because it can give people four hours to seek medical treatment, which is critical when one considers that 33 to 56 of the bleeding deaths from traumatic injury occur before a person is able to be transported to a hospital.

"When a product is developed for use in the battlefield, it is generally intended to work in a worst-case scenario where advanced care might not be immediately available," said William Maisel, M.D., M.P.H., acting director of the Office of Device Evaluation in the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health. "It is exciting to see this technology transition to help civilian first responders control some severe, life-threatening bleeding while on the trauma scene."

While the new treatment holds much promise, it cannot be used everywhere. XSTAT cannot be applied to traumatic injuries in particular parts of the chest, abdomen, pelvis, or tissue above the collarbone.

XSTAT is made up of 92 cellulose sponges with an absorbent coating that fill a wound before expanding in the wound, which creates a barrier to blood flow and creates it. Each device can use absorb up to a pint of blood and up to three devices can be used for a single wound depending on the size and depth.