Noticing an Emergency

CALL 911

A life-threatening wound is when the blood is pooling, saturating clothes, and or spurting and 911 has to be alerted immediately. Indicating the location of where the wound is is very important to figuring out how to stop the bleeding as soon as possible depending on the severity. There are three locations where a life-threatening wound could be: the extremities (arms and legs), body joints, and the torso.

Arms and Legs

For extremities it is best to use a tourniquet. It is also possibly to wound pack, but tourniquet works best. A combination of both can be used for maximum effectiveness. It is important to place the tourniquet at least two inches proximal to the the wound which usually means above it.

Body Joints

For shoulders, hips, and neck pack wound which means to pack the wound tight with whatever you have. Infections don’t matter at this point, saving the patient’s life is the most important thing. Ideally you would use a hemostatic gauze to pack the wound, but anything will do as long as it stops the bleeding.

Torso

For the torso all you can do is apply pressure on the outside of the wound and alert 911 immediately and let them deal with it in the operating room. The use of a vented chest seal is also possible, but it’s rare that someone is just going to carry that on hem.