American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [119]
1. Clean the severed body part by rinsing it with water or a saline solution, but do not scrub it or use soap on it.
2. Place the body part in a clean, dry, sealable plastic bag.
3. Keep the severed body part as cool as possible by placing the bag containing it in ice water (but don’t freeze the severed part or let it come in direct contact with ice because extreme cold can cause tissue damage).
Chest Wounds
Various types of chest wounds may require different methods of first aid. For example, if an object penetrates the chest wall, air can enter the chest cavity, displacing and collapsing a lung and reducing the amount of air entering the lungs. This is called a sucking chest wound. You will be able to hear the air being sucked in as the person inhales and see blood-stained bubbles around the wound as the person exhales. If you are not sure if the object has penetrated the chest wall completely, treat the wound as a sucking chest wound.
To Stop Severe Bleeding
1. Raise the injured part of the body. Lifting the bleeding body part higher than the person’s heart will reduce the flow of blood from the wound.
Raise the injured body part
2. Pick out any visible and easily removable objects (such as glass or metal), but do not probe the wound for deeply embedded objects.
Pick out visible objects
3. Use something that is as clean as possible (such as a clean cloth or piece of clothing, but use your hand if you have to) and press hard, directly on the wound. Avoid pressing on objects in the wound that you cannot easily remove. Keep pressure on the wound for 5 to 10 minutes until all visible bleeding stops. If the edges of the wound are gaping, hold them together firmly.
Press hard on the wound
4. Bind the entire wound tightly (with any clean material such as an item of clothing) to maintain pressure, but do not tie the bandage so tightly that blood circulation is completely cut off, and do not use a tourniquet.
Bind the wound tightly
5. Check to make sure that there is blood circulation below the bandage by checking for a pulse along an artery that is farther away from the heart than the bandage.
6. If the bandage becomes bloody, do not remove it. Instead, put more gauze or fabric over the bloody bandage and wrap it or tape it again tightly while continuing to apply direct pressure.
Place additional padding over the previous bandage
7. If direct pressure fails to slow or stop the bleeding, press on an arterial pressure point (see next page) in addition to applying direct pressure to the wound and keeping it elevated above the heart.
If bleeding continues, apply pressure to a pressure point
Arterial Pressure Points
Sometimes applying direct pressure to a wound does not stop the bleeding or the wound is too extensive to be able to put pressure on the entire area. Pressing firmly on an artery that supplies blood to the wound can help. Apply pressure at a point between the wound and the heart where the artery can be compressed against a bone. Apply pressure only until the bleeding stops
The circled areas on the arteries show the places to apply pressure to control bleeding.
Pressure points on the body
Pressure points on the head
Scalp injuries usually bleed profusely because the scalp has a rich supply of blood. If you are treating a superficial head wound, apply steady pressure. Don’t apply pressure to the wound if a fracture, broken skull fragments, or other foreign material is visible (or if you suspect a fracture) because you could press the fragments or other material into the brain. If the head wound is very severe, press carefully around the edges of the wound and tie a bandage loosely around it.
If a clear, watery fluid (which is cerebrospinal fluid) comes out of the injured person’s ear or nose, the base of the skull may be fractured. Place a clean pad