First Aid for Bleeding

BLEEDING

Depending on where the wound is, blood could be gushing out at speed, so you need to act quickly to stop excessive blood loss and unconsciousness.

'It is possible for a person to bleed out their entire blood volume in around just a minute from a serious wound,' 

(A heart beats an average of 72 beats per minute, each beat pumps roughly 70mls of blood, 72 x 70 = 5040 - the average adult has 5 litres of blood) 

So grip the wound as firmly as you can with a clean towel or any large cloth you find nearby.

Apply pressure directly to the wound and raise it to at least the level of the heart to reduce the blood flow to the affected area.

If your leg is bleeding, lie down and lift up your leg to get it above the heart. This distorts the blood flow, making it harder for blood to flow uphill against gravity.

This reduces how much of it reaches the wound, which in turn reduces the amount of bleeding.

As a general rule, whether you are hurt or tending someone else who is, do not try applying a tourniquet to stop bleeding.

The majority of severe bleeds can be dealt effectively with direct pressure to stop or slow down the flow of blood until emergency help arrives.

Not only are torniquets difficult to apply to yourself, they can cause irreparable damage to a limb if not applied by a medic with specialist training.

'The trouble is that to be effective torniquets stop the blood flow completely. This also starves the limb of oxygen and if the pressure is not released in time, irreparable tissue damage will occur,' says Clive James, a training officer with St John Ambulance.

Never try to remove anything that is embedded in a wound. Leave it where it is because it could be forming a plug, so removing it could make the bleeding worse. Wait until you get to A&E, where it will be removed in a sterile environment and the wound can be treated properly.

Interested in learning First Aid?

Why not book on to one of our courses www.safatraining.co.uk

Alone And Choking - What To Do

Your alone and you start choking, there is no one to help, what can you do?

The average ambulance response time is eight minutes, but if you're choking, the brain can survive for only three minutes without oxygen before it starts to die. So, it is critical to know what to do and to act quickly

'Your actions are the most important factor in an emergency and the first ten minutes are the most crucial. Whatever you do, always do something.'

Obviously, not all situations can be dealt with on your own, such as if you faint or have a fit, and you should always seek professional medical care in a critical situation.

But here, with the help of experts, we go through the most effective self-help procedures you can do if you find yourself alone and in an emergency...

If something lodges in your airway, your natural reflex is to cough to get it out. Doing this as vigorously as you can should work in most cases, says Joe Mulligan (a first-aid expert at the British Red Cross). Bending over with your head down should help move a lodged item.

You can also perform a version of abdominal thrusts on yourself (applying pressure to the abdomen to force a lodged object up and out of your throat).

If something lodges in your airway, try to cough or perform a version of the abdominal thrusts. 

There are two ways of doing this. First, by doing abdominal thrusts with your fist. Make a fist with one hand and place it just above your belly button. Place the other hand on top for support and push really hard, in short, sharp thrusts. Try about five of these.

You could also try abdominal thrusts on the back of a chair - this may be easier in the heat of the moment. Lean over a sturdy chair or table, holding on if you need to, and thrust your upper belly against the top edge using short, sharp motions.

You should always seek medical help after using either of these techniques in case you have caused internal damage or bruising.

'When people are choking, they may not have the physical strength in their arms to perform abdominal thrusts and there are anecdotes of people dislodging the item by replicating the abdominal thrusts on the back of a chair,' says Alan Weir, head of clinical services at St John Ambulance.

Minimum Contents of a Workplace First Aid Kit

Do you know what should be in your workplace first aid kit

The minimum requirements according to the guidelines set out by the Health & Safety Executive are as follows

• A guidance leaflet
• 20 individually wrapped plasters      
• (Assorted sizes)
• 2 sterile eye pads
• 2 triangular bandages                      
• (Individually wrapped and preferably sterile)
• 6 medium sterile wound dressings  
• (Individually wrapped and un-medicated)
• 2 large sterile wound dressings      
• (Individually wrapped and un-medicated)
• At least 3 pairs of disposable gloves
• 6 safety pins
• 5 anti-septic wipes (Individually wrapped)

Other items are allowed that are appropriate to your business such as burns dressings and ice packs.

 No medicines, ointments etc.