Heavy bleeding: first aid

Do this now

1. 01Press directly and hard on the wound with the cleanest cloth or dressing you have. Firm, continuous pressure — not dabbing.
2. 02Keep pressing without lifting to check. Checking restarts the bleeding.
3. 03If blood soaks through, add another cloth on top. Never remove the first one.
4. 04Raise the injured limb above the level of the heart if nothing is broken.
5. 05Lie them down and keep them warm.
6. 06If bleeding from a limb is life-threatening and pressure has failed, apply a tourniquet high above the wound, tighten until bleeding stops, and write down the time.

Do not

• ×Do not pull out an embedded knife, glass or rod. It may be the only thing holding the bleeding back. Pad around it instead.
• ×Do not keep lifting the cloth to look.
• ×Do not wash a deep wound that is bleeding heavily — stop the bleeding first.
• ×Do not use a tourniquet as a first resort, and never loosen one once applied. Only the hospital removes it.
• ×Do not give anything to eat or drink.

What to tell the operator

• Where the bleeding is and roughly how much
• Whether it is spurting or flowing
• Whether anything is embedded in the wound
• Whether they are pale, cold, confused or drowsy

What this page cannot tell you

• How deep the wound goes, or what it cut on the way
• Whether an artery is involved
• Blood loss is very hard to judge by eye and is usually underestimated