First Aid - Bleeding & Control

The commonest outdoor injuries are cuts followed by sprains & strains, bruises and then fractures. Hands & fingers are hurt most often, then feet and toes then legs next. One of 4 injuries reported is caused by hand tools such as axes & knives. These latter are the most immediately serious whenever accompanied by heavy bleeding, for this MUST BE STOPPED AT THE EARLIEST POSSIBLE SECOND.

Even when a severe artery is no larger than the graphite of a pencil, an individual can last no more than a few minutes at most if its bleeding is not stopped. Pressing a clean & preferably sterile dressing over the wound will usually control the bleeding if sufficient pressure is applied. This usually can be done, especially with the assistance if necessary of elastic bandages used as previously described.

If you don't have any then press firmly & strongly against the nearest pressure point. The blood supply to an entire arm can be shut off by pressing just behind the ridge to be felt on the inner side of the armpit beneath the raised arm.

THE LARGE FEMORAL ARTERY OF THE LEG CAN BE CONTROLLED BY: Gripping the leg near the body & drawing the fingers about half way down the inner surface where they will find a slight depression at whose bottom throbs this great arterial trunk. Incidentally the blood vessels of the lower leg can often be closed by pressing under the flexed knee between the 2 major tendons in that area.

If the bleeding still continues dangerously, the next step is to apply a tourniquet to the elevated limb. Any preferably flat material will do for this, but particularly efficacious is a resilient 2" wide rubber strip about 5 feet long.