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A quick fore ward, remember what I have said about body substance isolation. When blood is involved, ALWAYS wear protective gloves. Moving on.... Regardless how severe, all bleeding can be controlled. If left uncontrolled, bleeding may lead to shock or even death. Most bleeding can be stopped before the ambulance arrives at the scene. While you're performing the steps for controlling bleeding, you should also be calling for an ambulance to respond. Bleeding control is only part of the equation. The first step in controlling a bleeding wound is to plug the hole. Blood needs to clot in order to start the healing process and stop the bleeding. Just like ice won't form on the rapids of a river, blood will not coagulate when it's flowing. The best way to stop
it is to...stop it. Put pressure directly on the wound. If you
have some type of gauze, use it. Gauze pads hold the blood on the wound and help
the components of the blood to stick together, promoting clotting. If you don't
have gauze, terrycloth towels work almost as well. If the gauze or towel soaks
through with blood, add another layer. Gravity makes blood
flow down easier than it flows up. If you hold one hand above your head and the
other at your side, the lower hand will be red while the higher one is
pale. Step two to control bleeding uses this principle. Elevate the
wound above the heart. By elevating the wound, you slow the flow of
blood. As the blood slows, it becomes easier to stop it with direct pressure. Pressure points are
areas of the body where blood vessels run close to the surface. By pressing on
these blood vessels, blood flow further away will be slowed, allowing direct
pressure to stop bleeding. When using pressure points, make sure you are
pressing on a point closer to the heart than the wound. Pressing on a blood
vessel further from the heart than the wound will have no effect on the Common pressure points:
Remember to keep the wound elevated above the heart and keep pressure directly on the wound. When should you apply
a tourniquet? The simple answer: almost never. Tourniquets severely restrict or
occlude blood flow to the arm or leg to which they are applied. Using a Patients have been known to lose limbs from the use of tourniquets. Often, if a tourniquet doesn't cause a loss of function on the extremity which has it, then it probably wasn't applied correctly. Applying a tourniquet is a desperate move - only for the direst emergencies where the choice between life and limb must be made |
