Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment History & Origins

The Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (NASG), a medical device stabilizing patients with traumatic injuries, traces its origins to the early 20th century. George Crile conceived an inflatable pressure suit in the 1900s to maintain blood pressure during surgery. This technology evolved over decades.

By the 1940s, modifications created an anti-gravity device known as a G-suit. Its use expanded during the Vietnam War to stabilize soldiers with traumatic injuries before and during transport. In the 1970s, the G-suit became a half-suit, recognized as Military Anti-Shock Trousers (MAST) or Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garment (PASG).

Emergency rescue services increasingly adopted the PASG in the 1980s to manage patients experiencing shock from severe lower body bleeding. The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology incorporated the garment into recommended treatment guidelines in the 1990s, though it was later removed.

Concurrently, NASA/Ames began developing a non-pneumatic alternative in the 1970s. This research, initially for hemophiliac children, eventually led to the creation of the current NASG.