How to stop bleeding with a tourniquet

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you make a mistake, a person can lose an arm or a leg.

Use tourniquet if other methods don't work

The quickest and easiest way to stop heavy bleeding is to hold the wound with your hands. However, if it is too strong or if more than one is affected, it will not work.

In this case, or if an arm or leg is torn off, use the International Guidelines for First Aid and Resuscitation tourniquet.

Prepare the tourniquet

You can buy rubber bands and nylon turnstiles at the pharmacy. It is better to use the latter: they are comfortable, durable, squeeze the arteries better and do not damage the nerves.

If none of this is at hand, make the turnstile yourself. A scarf, belt, T-shirt will work well. But it is dangerous to use a thin rope or wire: they injure the skin and squeeze the nerves.

Hemostatic turnstile CAT / army.mil

Homemade turnstile / firstaidforlife.org.uk

Apply tourniquet

Position statement on the application of Tourniquets should be made as high as possible in the upper third of the arm or leg, so as not to damage the nerves and not to miss any wound under the clothes.

Tighten the tourniquet until the bleeding stops. If it continues, overlap another next to the first just above or below. Please note that at the site of the wound, blood may leak slightly from deep arteries and veins, but after a few minutes it will stop flowing completely.

How to apply a rubber band

Attach the tourniquet to clothing or fabric lining to avoid damaging your skin.

1. Take the tourniquet in the middle and stretch it strongly.
2. Wrap the stretched area around an arm or leg. The first turn should stop the bleeding.
3. Continue wrapping the bundle so that each turn overlaps the previous one by two-thirds. If bleeding continues, stretch the tourniquet further.
4. At the end, make a knot or secure the tourniquet with plastic cufflinks.

How to apply a turnstile

It is better to fasten on bare skin to avoid slipping.

1. Place the tourniquet over your arm or leg by inserting the free end into the buckle to form a loop.
2. Tighten. Secure the end with Velcro.
3. Twist the crank clockwise until the bleeding stops.
4. Secure the knob under the plastic bracket.
5. Additionally secure the knob with Velcro marked Time. Here you need to specify the time of the turnstile application.

How to apply a homemade turnstile

If possible, attach it to clothing or fabric lining.

1. Take a piece of fabric - a scarf, a handkerchief, a T-shirt.
2. Twist the tourniquet out of the garment with rotational movements.
3. Tie it around an arm or leg.
4. Place a stick, pencil, or something similar under the tourniquet.
5. Rotate the wand clockwise until the homemade turnstile tightens until the blood stops.
6. Secure the stick with another piece of cloth, rope, or tape.

Mark the application time of the tourniquet

Write this on your forehead or cheek with a marker. Do not put pieces of paper under the tourniquet: they may become soaked in blood, and the inscription will disappear.

Take the victim to the nearest hospital

Call an ambulance at 103 or bring a person yourself. Do it ASAP Prehospital Tourniquet Use in Operation Iraqi Freedom: Effect on Hemorrhage Control and Outcomes. If blood does not flow to an arm or leg, the tissues will die.

Previously, it was believed that a tourniquet can be applied for no more than 1 hour in winter and 2 hours in summer. But research shows that this period can be extended. There are cases in the military when a limb was saved after 6 hours of applying a tourniquet.