Among all types of bleeding, it is arterial bleeding that is the most dangerous, threatening a person's life. Therefore, it is important for everyone to have information about how to stop arterial bleeding in order to help in time, both to their loved ones and to themselves.
Signs of arterial bleeding
Arterial bleeding is the release of blood beyond the bloodstream in the arteries as a result of their damage caused by various traumatic factors. Arteries are blood vessels through which blood moves from the heart to all organs and tissues. Their walls are thick and strong, and the blood flowing in them is saturated with oxygen and transported under high pressure.
Arterial blood is easy to recognize by bright red color. It is liquid and flows out of the wound with a flowing stream, while pulsating to the beat of the heart muscle. The blood loss for this type of bleeding occurs very quickly. As a result, there is often a spasm of blood vessels and loss of consciousness.
Damage to any artery threatens fatal blood loss within 30 - 60 minutes. And if you wound large arteries, usually located on the concave side of the body, and on the limbs - on their folding surfaces, a person has only about two minutes to save.
Stop Arterial Bleeding - First Aid
Blood with arterial bleeding should be stopped, guided by the rules, depending on the localization of bleeding.
Bleeding from the major arteries of the extremities
In this case, the main way to stop blood loss is to apply a tourniquet. Before this, it is necessary to press the artery to the bone protrusion above the damaged site in the following way:
- When injuring the shoulder, place the fist in the armpit and press the arm to the trunk.
- When injuring the forearm, place two packages of bandage in the elbow fold and maximally squeeze the arm in the joint.
- When a thigh is injured, press on the upper third of the thigh in the inguinal ligament area with your fist.
- When injuring the shin - lay in the popliteal area two packages of bandage and bend the leg in the joint.
As a bundle, you can use any durable material - rubber tube, fabric, wire, cord, etc. In case of arterial bleeding, the application of the tourniquet is carried out taking into account such requirements:
- The tourniquet is placed above the wound on the hip or shoulder.
- The application of the tourniquet is carried out on an elevated limb.
- The tourniquet is applied only over the padding made from soft tissue (and not to bare skin).
- After this, attach a note to the victim's clothes indicating the exact time of the harness attachment.
- On the leg, the tourniquet can be held for no more than 90 minutes, and on the arm - not more than 45 minutes (in the winter - not more than 30 minutes).
- At the end of this time, the tourniquet is loosened or removed for 15 minutes, and then re-applied (for the release period, the artery should be pressed with fingers).
Arterial bleeding when injured by feet and brushes
In this case, the tourniquet is not necessarily superimposed. It is enough to pribintovat a pack of bandage and raise the limb to the wound.
Arterial bleeding from wounds of the head, neck and trunk
This may be the temporal artery, carotid artery, iliac and subclavian arteries. The bleeding of this localization is stopped by the imposition of a tight tamponade of the wound. To do this, using a pair of tweezers or clamps, sterile wipes are densely placed in the cavity of the damaged area, on top of which you can put an unopened bandage and tighten it.
All the measures described above are only temporary pre-medical care, then the victim should be urgently transported to the hospital.