First Aid for Bleeding
Preventing wounds. Flesh wounds are the most common injuries requiring first aid. They would be less common if people would take some measures to eliminate dangerous situations. Some things you can do to eliminate dangerous wounds are:
1. Wear a safety belt while riding in a car.
2.Keep firearms under lock and key.
3. Store knives, razor blades, scissors, and other sharp objects out of the reach of children.
4. Caution youngsters who run with pointed objects in their hands that this is a dangerous practice. Make them walk. Show them how to carry the object with its point down.
5. Be very careful while using knives or dangerous tools such as saws, rotary mowers, or power tools.
Tetanus. Any wound, whether it is a tiny nick from a thorn or a gaping wound from a fall, may cause tetanus, or lockjaw. The danger of contracting this disease is especially great if the wound is deep and ragged, or is contaminated by soil or other foreign matter.
You should clean the wound with boiled water (at body temperature). Then you should help the patient to a doctor. The doctor may or may not
give the victim an anti-tetanus shot, depending on the circumstances.
Severe injury. Sometimes a wound involves serious bleeding that must be stopped at once, as you will remember from Rule Two. Since the body can lose a quart of blood or more in a minute, it is necessary to stop the flow of blood as soon as possible. In a case of this sort you must act quickly and without hesitation. The best first aid is the compress.
Compress pressure. When used to stop heavy bleeding, the compress is a large pad of folded cloth or cotton. The more sterile, or germ free, the cloth, the better.
When stopping bleeding, quickly fold a cloth into a compress. Press it firmly over the wound and hold it firmly in place with a bandage or strip of cloth you have cut from material at hand. If blood seeps around the edge of the compress, place additional pads of cloth on top of the original piece. Removing the first compress would be likely to start bleeding once again. If this method of stopping bleeding does not work, use the pressure points to help stem the flow of blood.
Pressure points. There are several points on the body where finger pressure can be applied to arteries to help stem the flow of blood. By pressing the artery against a bone, the first-aider can reduce the flow of blood from the heart to the affected part. You should use the pressure point located between the wound and the heart.
The pressure points are located on the inner parts of the upper arms, the inner parts of the upper thighs, and on the neck, temples, and shoulders. Study the illustration to find the exact locations of these pressure points.
Using a tourniquet. If severe bleeding cannot be stopped by the use of any other method, a tourniquet, should be used. It is a piece of cloth or other material that is wrapped around an arm or leg and twisted to stop the flow of blood.
To apply it, place a two-inch bandage near the wound on the side toward the heart. Wrap it around the limb twice. Tie the ends in a square knot. Leave a loop in the knot so you can insert a strong stick. Insert and twist the stick until the blood stops flowing from the wound.
A strip of folded cloth, a belt, or a necktie may be used in place of a two-inch bandage. Do not use rope, string, a thin strip of cloth, or wire. These materials will cut into the flesh and cause the victim severe pain. Once the tourniquet is in place, get the victim to a doctor as quickly as possible. Any loosening of the tourniquet before a doctor sees the patient may cause a renewal of bleeding and danger to the patient.
Think for Yourself
If you were giving first aid to a person who had a deep cut on the back of his head, where would you apply pressure? Would you use a tourniquet?
