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Severe bleeding

DRAFT: not yet checked against the sources. When in doubt, ask a doctor or rescuers.

First minutes

  1. Shout for help and call an ambulance. Put on gloves or plastic bags if you have them.
  2. Find the wound, cut or pull away clothing.
  3. Press hard on the wound with your hand through clean thick cloth or a dressing. Do not let go.
  4. Cloth soaked through: do not remove it, add more on top and press harder.
  5. Blood spurts, will not stop, or a limb is torn off: tourniquet on the arm/leg, 5-7 cm (2-3 in) above the wound, not on a joint.
  6. Tighten until bleeding stops. It hurts: that is normal. Write the time on skin or paper.
  7. Lay the person down, cover them, watch breathing. Stay until help arrives.

Do NOT

  • × Pull objects out of the wound: press around them and secure.
  • × Remove or loosen the tourniquet "to let blood through". Only a doctor does that.
  • × Make a tourniquet from thin rope, wire, a lace: use a wide band (belt, cloth) and a stick to twist.
  • × Release pressure to "check if it stopped".

Next

Hospital urgently; tell the doctor about the tourniquet and the time. An improvised tourniquet is weaker than a real one: it slips and may need re-tightening.

Source: Stop the Bleed (ACS) and ERC Guidelines 2021 First Aid; check the numbers (10 min, 5-7 cm / 2-3 in)