Bleeding and Cuts

When dealing with an open wound, your main priority is to stop the bleeding. Here are several rules to keep in mind while performing First Aid for bleeding:

• Do NOT panic, maintain composure to ensure successful aid
• In most cases, by applying pressure to the wound, bleeding will begin to stop
• Bleeding can look much worse than it actually is. If the bleeding continues, apply a bandage or clean cloth to the open wound for 15-30 minutes with a reasonable amount of pressure.

Make sure that the cloth does not move during the 15-30 minutes placed on the wound. This movement can aggravate the wound and cause the bleeding to restart. If the bleeding continues, increase the pressure with a second dressing to the wound. You can control or stop the bleeding with pressure alone. Now you need to keep the wound clean as well. If there is soap and water near the victim, wash the wound. If there is debri visible without soap and water, extract and remove them with tweezers or your hands.

Contact emergency services if there are signs or you expect potential infections or the bleeding has NOT stopped. For smaller wounds and scrapes, use a triple antibiotic ointment, which is best for preventing infections.