What Do You Do When Someone is Bleeding?

Dear Aunty Nurse Readers,

I hope you had a nice weekend. As I said in my last post, I’ll be doing a series of first aid emergencies. Today’s post is about handling medical emergencies involving bleeding.On January 8, 2011, a U.S Congresswoman, Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and as fate would have it, there was a guy right beside her that knew that to do. Six months after the shooting she was discharged from the hospital.

Gabrielle Giffords

So here’s my question: Why don’t we hear a lot of stories like this one in Nigeria?

Answer: Lack of knowledge

Now I implore you to take these First Aid lessons seriously. Read them over and over again and share them with family and loved ones because you’ll never know when they’ll come in handy.

Emergency Action Steps

Controlling External Bleeding

Remember to:

• CHECK the scene, and then CHECK the person- In a case where you’re unaware of the cause of the bleeding. You should check the scene and the person in order to identify the source.
• Put on medical gloves if at all possible – It is extremely important to protect yourself. Blood is a medium for transmission of deadly diseases such as Hepatitis B and HIV. In giving support you must ensure that you are safe first.
  
• Use a plastic bag or other barrier between you and the blood if possible: If you can’t find gloves, get a plastic bag to create that barrier.
• Obtain consent: In some countries it is illegal to give care to an individual without their consent. In America people get sued to court for saving lives of people who say they had just gathered enough nerve to commit suicide. If you find yourself in such a place, ask the person if you can help. If the victim is unconscious, then consent is implied. (You can go ahead and help).
• Cover wound with a sterile dressing: In most cases you won’t find a sterile dressing because most people do not have first-aid kits in their cars or at home or anywhere so a clean cloth would do.
• Maintain manual pressure for a long time: Now it’s not just about covering the wound, this is the most important step and would probably be the first or second step if the accident was domestic. For example, if your sibling/spouse steps on a large sharp piece of glass is bleeding profusely or someone gets stabbed etc. (You don’t need to check the scene because you already know what happened.) You have to maintain pressure for a long time and do not open it up to check if the bleeding has stopped. You must keep applying pressure and if the blood covers the first layer of dressing or cloth you should put another dressing on top. It is ok to have layers of dressing but DO NOT loosen the dressing.
• Use elastic compression bandage (crepe bandage) to maintain pressure if manual pressure cannot be maintained continuously until help arrives. You need to hold the spot tight in order to reduce and eventually stop the bleeding without excessive blood loss.

 

If bleeding does not stop:

• Continue to maintain manual pressure.  Use tourniquet (can be a piece of clothing a belt etc.)to tie above the site of the bleed and this is not applicable in all circumstances) only if direct pressure is not effective or possible, and only with proper training.
• Take steps to minimize SHOCK or treat the victim for SHOCK if they have reached that stage (Place the person in shock position)
• Call 123 LASEMS (LAGOS ONLY)
• Remember to wash your hands with soap after giving care.
  

To get first-aid boxes for your homes or cars call Ritemed Care on 08168974831

If you have any questions, please post it as a comment and it will be attended to.

Have a Lovely week

Signed,

Aunty Nurse