When providing first aid, you may need to stop bleeding. The timely and proper implementation of this manipulation can save a person’s life. To carry it out, you need to know how to stop bleeding when injuring a vein and artery.
Knowing the methods of stopping blood loss, you can save a life, gain time to transport the victim to the hospital, where the person will be provided with final assistance.
First of all, you need to know the difference between arterial and venous blood. Every minute of delay can be fatal. And you can not transport the victim until the blood is stopped.
Stop methods
Knowing how to stop bleeding when injuring a vein or other vessel helps save lives. Before proceeding with the manipulation, it is necessary to visually determine which vessel is damaged - an artery or vein. In the first case, scarlet blood will flow from the wound, and if the vein is damaged, the blood is dark, almost black, flowing in a stream.
There are several methods to prevent blood loss:
- press the artery with your finger;
- if the vessel of the limb is damaged, bending at the elbow joint is performed;
- the use of a pressure dressing;
- application of a tourniquet;
- tight tamponade;
- applying a clamp to the vessel.
Each method has its own characteristics and is performed in different conditions. With first aid, the victim is used finger pressure, a tourniquet, a pressure bandage and a method of bending the arm in the elbow joint.
Venous bleeding
Blood of a dark cherry color, almost black, slowly flowing from the wound, indicates venous bleeding. Bleeding from large veins is dangerous for humans, as it can lead to severe blood loss or air embolism. In addition to cases of injury, bleeding can be caused by rupture of blood vessels of the nasal mucous membranes, with varicose veins.
Epistaxis may last a long time. In these cases, urgent hospitalization of the patient is necessary. First aid for venous bleeding involves the application of a compressive type dressing, tourniquet, digital pressure of the vessel and the application of cold.
The pressure dressing is a roller of several layers of gauze, but it is most convenient to use an unwound bandage. It is imposed on the place where the vessel will be crushed. The roller is fixed with a bandage or harness. The correctness of the bandage is indicated by the termination of blood loss.
In addition to a pressure dressing, a tourniquet is used to stop bleeding. It is superimposed 2-3 cm below the wound, i.e. away from the heart. When using the tourniquet, the time it is superimposed on is tracked. In the cold season, it is applied for 30 minutes, in other cases - for an hour. For the convenience of determining how many minutes have passed, it is recorded.
Helps reduce bleeding cold. It is applied for 30 minutes, then removed for 10 minutes to restore blood flow in the cold exposure zone.
Other types of venous bleeding
With nosebleeds, it is necessary to press the wing of the nose against the septum, and apply cold to the nose bridge for 5 minutes with the same break. There is no need to throw your head back, as blood will flow down the back wall of the pharynx and there will be no way to evaluate the effectiveness of methods to stop bleeding.
In case of damage to the jugular and other large veins, finger pressure is performed, and then a tourniquet is applied. If the jugular vein is damaged, the vessel is squeezed at the level of the upper edge of the thyroid cartilage, above the site of injury. A tourniquet is placed on the neck through the arm raised upward (the opposite arm from the side of the wounded neck). With venous bleeding, the tourniquet is superimposed three centimeters above the wound (closer to the head), and in arterial, below the wound. If the blood does not stop, then the tourniquet is displaced a little further from the wound.
Finger pressure
First aid for venous bleeding and damage to arteries involves knowledge of finger pressure techniques. The greatest danger to life is damage to arteries. They are pressed proximal to the wound, i.e. closer to the heart: on the extremities, the vessels are pressed above the wound, on the head and neck - lower. Having pressed the vessel, you can stop the blood loss and gain time for further assistance: applying a pressure bandage or tourniquet.
Features of finger pressure
Knowing how to stop bleeding when injuring a vein and artery is not enough to effectively stop blood loss. You should also know what features you may encounter. So, during the finger pressing of the arteries it is necessary to take into account that these vessels are very mobile and can “pop out” from under the finger. To eliminate this, press the vessel should be the weight of the whole body and a few fingers. As soon as the blood stops, you must apply a tourniquet or use another method of temporarily stopping blood loss.
Application of a tourniquet for different types of bleeding
And how to stop bleeding when injuring a vein or artery with a tourniquet? Recently, more and more often use new types of harnesses equipped with special fasteners. They are easier to use than old-style rubber bands.
With arterial bleeding, the product is placed above the site of injury, and with venous bleeding, lower. The tourniquet should not be applied in the upper third of the leg and in the middle third of the shoulder, so as not to damage the nerves located in these areas. Do not apply a tourniquet in the joints, on the hand, foot.
In case of venous bleeding, the tourniquet is placed on the lining, and the victim’s clothing can serve it. On a naked body, its imposition is unacceptable, except in emergency cases.
Strong tightening of the tourniquet can lead to crushing of soft tissues, crushing of nerves and other vessels. As a result, there is ischemic neuritis, tissue necrosis, the sensitivity of the limbs is impaired, paralysis or paresis may appear.
Inadequate tightening leads to blood loss, and in some cases can contribute to its strengthening.
With venous bleeding, a pressure bandage is the easiest and best way to stop blood loss. For its implementation, it is necessary to make a cotton-gauze roller, which will exert the necessary pressure on the wound.