Effective first aid is vital in order to help a victim who is bleeding severely. Major blood loss can rapidly cause shock and death, therefore effective control of bleeding is vital whilst awaiting for EMS to arrive. Your main aim is to stem the bleeding by applying pressure directly to the wound.

1. Avoid contact with the victim’s blood. Ask the casualty to apply pressure to the wound himself. Carefully place the casualty in the prone position.
2. Ask a bystander to alert the emergency services. Do this yourself if you are alone.
3. Press down directly on the wound with your hands. Wear disposable gloves if possible. You can lay a clean cloth (such as a towel) over the wound.
4. If the wound keeps bleeding, press down on the wound more firmly.
5. Apply pressure on the wound until the emergency services arrive.
6. Wash your hands after administering first aid.

Monitor the victim for the development of shock until EMS arrives. Do not release pressure to inspect the wound. Do not attempt to clean the wound – your priority is to ensure life-threatening bleeding is stopped. 

How to Apply an Emergency Bandage to Stop Bleeding

Remove the emergency bandage from the packaging. Lay the compress on the wound. Roll the bandage firmly around the compress to exert pressure on the wound. Tie the ends of the bandage together. If the wound continues to bleed wrap a second bandage around the first. Do not remove the first bandage.

Make sure the bandage is tight enough to stop the bleeding, without cutting off all the blood flow. If the lower tissue area turns blue or becomes numb, you can slacken off the bandage a bit but do not take it off completely. You can use other bandages or a piece of cloth to apply pressure too.

Learn more about severe bleeding by checking out our other blog post here.