What is a hemorrhage?
A hemorrhage is blood lost which is either abundant or occurs for a long time, and which is in danger of threatening the victim's life. Any bleeding calls for immediate, quick and efficient action.
A hemorrhage is blood lost which is either abundant or occurs for a long time, and which is in danger of threatening the victim's life. Any bleeding calls for immediate, quick and efficient action.
In all cases, warn emergency services. First of all, have the victim lay down and compress the site of bleeding directly with your hand; ideally, a barrier, such as sterile, low-adherent gauze should be used to touch the wound, to reduce the risk of infection and to help the wound close. Protective medical gloves are also advised to reduce the risk of infection. If this maneuver is effective, the bleeding will stop.
If the wound is on the extremities, keep the wound above the level of the heart to decrease the pressure at the point of injury and prevent increased injury. This mainly applies to limbs and the head, as it is impractical (and in some cases damaging) to attempt to move the torso around to achieve this. It is not recommended to elevate limbs which are broken, as this may aggravate the injury.
If you have to leave the victim for any reason, a compressive bandage can be used as a substitute to manual compression. Take a thick piece of cloth and fasten it to the wound using a wide piece of fabric. The pressure of the bandage must be equivalent to that of the manual compression. It is essential to maintain compression until the victim is taken into the charge of emergency services.
If you are confronted with an open fracture, if the wound contains a foreign object or is not accessible, if direct compression has proved ineffective, if you yourself have a wound on the hand and no means of protecting it, other techniques can be used: the pressure point and the tourniquet.
Pressure point: the pressure point allows you to put pressure on the site of bleeding indirectly, by creating a point of constriction between the heart and the wound. In all cases, the pressure point must be maintained until emergency services arrive, except if a tourniquet is put in place. You must detect the pulse before performing a pressure point.
If the bleeding occurs in the lower limbs, place yourself at the level of the victim's pelvis, to the side, and lean with the fist in the middle of the groin, keeping your arm extended.
If the bleeding occurs in the upper limbs, the humeral artery must be compressed against the humerus bone with the thumb. Put your hand below the victim's arm, palm upward, then put the thumb between the biceps and triceps, and rotate your hand to push your thumb so as to apply pressure.
If the victim has a neck hemorrhage, put yourself aside the victim, at the level of his head, and push with your thumb on the base of the neck, along the trachea; be careful not to crush it. The other fingers must remain behind the neck. The artery will thus be pressed against the vertebra.
Tourniquet: a tourniquet can be used in place of the pressure point on the arm or thigh, but cannot be used on the neck. It is used when the pressure point is not possible due to the position of the victim, if it proves ineffective (blood is still flowing) or it cannot be maintained by an isolated person who must alert emergency services or take care of another victim.
The tourniquet must be placed on the upper part of the member (arm or thigh); it can be performed with a wide and non-elastic piece of cloth that will not be loosen. The tourniquet must remain clearly visible and the time of set up must be indicated.
Leave the victim sitting, head bent forward; do not ask him to lie down so as to avoid swallowing blood. Ask him to compress the bleeding nostril with a finger. If the bleeding does not stop, starts again or occurred after a fall or a strike to the head, medical attention is needed.
Have the victim lie down or sit, and then alert emergency services. This type of symptom is always serious and requires emergency treatment.
