Bleeding.

You need to remember RED and/or RICE to treat bleeding.

RED = Rest, Elevate, Direct pressure.
REST - Get the victim to rest, this gets the heart rate lower and will give you the least amount of bleeding out untill youve treated the wound.
ELEVATE - If possible, elevate the wound so that it is above the heart. This way gravity won't work against you, and will actually slow the blood flow to the wound.
DIRECT PRESSURE - Using a steryl gause if you have one (if not the persons own hand, or a shirt, or anything else you can think of will have to do) put it over the wound and put pressure on it. This will prevent the wound from bleeding out more by acting like a plug in a sink. If you put many layers of gause on and it bleeds threw never take off the gause that is closest to the skin. Just add to it, this is because the blood has already started to clot on the gause.

RICE = Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate.

REST - Get the victim to rest, this gets the heart rate lower and will give you the least amount of bleeding out untill youve treated the wound.
ICE - Wrap the ice in a layer of cloth (like a shirt), then put it near the wound but between the heart and the wound. This is so the blood will cool on the way to the wound and help prevent swelling. Also the blood will flow slower and prevent some blood loss.
Compress - Using a steryl gause if you have one (if not the persons own hand, or a shirt, or anything else you can think of will have to do) put it over the wound and put pressure on it. This will prevent the wound from bleeding out more by acting like a plug in a sink. If you put many layers of gause on and it bleeds threw never take off the gause that is closest to the skin. Just add to it, this is because the blood has already started to clot on the gause.
ELEVATE - If possible, elevate the wound so that it is above the heart. This way gravity won't work against you, and will actually slow the blood flow to the wound.

Hope that helps.

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

well today I was cutting a peice for my firebow and while trying to shoo the flys while cutting i cutt a large 2 inch long gash in my finger with the folding saw. It was one of those "Les vine cutting moments" where I got distracted by the flies and destroyed my finger. Oh well, I got it to stop bleeding in about 1 minute, lots of pressure works great, then just cleaned it up and continued on.

First aid is really handy if you know your stuff Cool

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"There dosen't look like there's much shelter over in those mountains, but that's the only choice I got right now, this is gonna be a long week" - Les Stroud Arctic

I've been trying to memorize these but i keep forgetting what D means in RED (I keep thinking it means dress, as in dress the wound), and the C in RICE I keep thinking is Cover as in cover the wound, same as dress in RED.

yea, the d in direct pressure is wierd since it isn't one work like the others. you are essentially dressing the wound tho so you aren't far off! remembering c as cover isn't too bad either, because you are covering the wound to compress it and stop bleeding... you aren't far off!! chances are that you will remember to do all these things without memorising tho. it, at least to me, is pretty common knowledge.

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

As a medic I learned that all bleeding eventially stops.

Seriously........... Direct pressure does work wonders for serious bleeds.

Arterial bleeds(the ones that spurt) are the most serious and needs direct pressure quickly

Tfisher, and our other medical pros...

I've heard about some kind of first-aid chemical powder that can be poured into arterial wounds to cause temporary artificial clotting?

I think they were developed for military first-aid, but that they're available now commercially (but expensive).

I'm curious about these chemical agents, and whether it'd be worth carrying a packet in a BOB... or could it be more dangerous for me to try to use it (i.e., do more harm than good), since I'm not a trained medic/EMT?

One type that I found at Red Flare...
http://www.redflarekits.com/pc/4335/m/CELOX+15+gram+Powder+Packet+-+Controls+Moderate+to+Severe+Bleeding

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"Asinus sæculæ maximus."

Dorby, I wouldn't suggest ever trying to use a first aid technique that you were not train'd to do. If you were to somehow harm the patient then lawsuits would be on their way. Your best bet is to do some research on the technique and then ask a first aid specialist in your town to explain or show you how to use it. I know that when I have taught lifesaving courses I have had a lot of questions's asked about different techniques and i did my best to explain them to educate the student. Long story short, educate yourself on it before using this method.

_________________
Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

so far i found a blood clotting spray.

	Quote:
	Blood Clotting Spray Helps stop superficial bleeding on contact and assists in fighting infection. Active ingredients: Lidocaine 4% w/w Benzethonium Chloride 0.2% w/w.

http://www2.mooremedical.com/index.cfm?PG=CTL&CS=HOM&FN=ProductDetail&PID=8648

still gonna keep looking. I haven't used this product and know nothing about it's side effects.

_________________
Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Here is a journal article on "Quik Clots" used by the military.

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,SoldierTech_060223_BloodClotter,,00.html

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

more info on quikclots - http://www.z-medica.com/quikclot/index.asp

http://www.z-medica.com/quikclot/hemostat_quikclot.asp

Quote:

What Is QuikClot?

QuikClot® brand hemostatic agent is a breakthrough product that saves lives by rapidly stopping severe bleeding. It is composed of an inert mineral substance that can be formulated and delivered to meet a variety of medical needs and applications. QuikClot® is changing the way we look at traumatic bleeding, by giving the first responder and others, an additional tool they can use to save a life.

Quote:

How does it work?

QuikClot® hemostatic agent is a molecular sieve, sifting molecules by size. When QuikClot® comes into contact with blood in and around a wound, it rapidly takes in the smaller water molecules from the blood. The larger platelet and clotting factor molecules remain in the wound in a highly concentrated form. This promotes extremely rapid natural clotting and prevents severe blood loss. Additionally, the nano-engineered particles provide key surface chemistry, rapidly enhancing the body's natural coagulation process. The process represents a new approach to hemostasis, which typically involves adding clotting factors rather than extracting elements to halt bleeding.

FAQ's - http://www.z-medica.com/quikclot/zmedica_faq.asp

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Never explain. Your friends don't need it and your enemies won't believe you anyway.

Daffy wrote:

Dorby, I wouldn't suggest ever trying to use a first aid technique that you were not train'd to do. If you were to somehow harm the patient then lawsuits would be on their way. Your best bet is to do some research on the technique and then ask a first aid specialist in your town to explain or show you how to use it. I know that when I have taught lifesaving courses I have had a lot of questions's asked about different techniques and i did my best to explain them to educate the student. Long story short, educate yourself on it before using this method.

Wise advice, Daffy... yep, absolutely you're right.
For what it's worth, I'm qualified in basic first-aid and CPR, and also received some training as a medical tech. But you're right, I have no training in using this kind of stuff, and I've never seen it used.

I was wondering about carrying a packet as an emergency "last resort" measure on myself or a loved-one, in the first-aid part of my BOB or wilderness first-aid kit, miles away from professional help, and I would never dream of trying something like this around-'bout-town in normal life. I did chat with an EMT in the neighborhood a couple of months back about emergency "hemostatic polymers"... he indicated they used them only in isolated situations and extreme emergencies, and that their teams normally relied on tried-and-true conventional bleeding control. We didn't discuss it further, and at that time I was simply curious about the medical technology, not thinking about actually including them in a kit.

I haven't looked at the articles you listed, but I will tonight. Thanks much for the info and links! Truthfully I'm more interested in the technology and chemistry behind it and learning about it, but as I said above it's crossed my mind about including it in my kit.

And on a last note... you're right about the lawsuits down here... they rain down non-stop, for better or for worse, no matter how good a job the EMT/Medic does.

_________________
"Asinus sæculæ maximus."

The hemostatic powders are a last resort only. The chemical reactions that take place produces heat and burn the tissue around the wound. You can expect to lose about 2 inches of tissue in all directions around the wound. It is also no good for arterial bleeding because if the artery is severed it will retract up into the wound so sealing the wound with a clotting agent will just give you internal bleeding.

stonewallcadet wrote:

The hemostatic powders are a last resort only. The chemical reactions that take place produces heat and burn the tissue around the wound. You can expect to lose about 2 inches of tissue in all directions around the wound. It is also no good for arterial bleeding because if the artery is severed it will retract up into the wound so sealing the wound with a clotting agent will just give you internal bleeding.

Ah! Good to know. Yep, since the original post I had done some reading on the stuff, and heard about the chemical heat-burn problem with the stuff the military uses.

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"Asinus sæculæ maximus."