4. Do not remove more clothing than is necessary to examine the injury. Always rip, or, if you cannot rip, cut the clothes from the injured part. Don't pull the clothes off.
5. Give alcoholic stimulants cautiously and slowly, and only when the patient feels weak or drowsy. Hot coffee or tea will often suffice when obtainable.
6. Keep from the patient all persons not actually needed to assist you.
7. Do not touch a wound with your fingers. If the wound is dirty, remove the dirt as well as possible, with the first-aid bandage.
8. Don't pour into the wound any water from your canteen for the purpose of washing it out or washing the blood from around the wound. Water often contains germs and the skin around the wound may be dirty. If water is poured into the wound it carries or washes into the same these germs and dirt, and the wound will become infected.
9. Heat and moisture increases the activity of the germ of infection. Therefore keep the wound cool and dry.
10. If the blood is scarlet in color and appears in spurts, send at once for a doctor and then take the necessary measures (apply a tourniquet) to stop the flow of blood.
11. If the patient loses consciousness, it will probably be because insufficient blood is reaching the brain. Lower your patient's head and give all your attention to stopping the bleeding.
BULLET WOUND
If you receive a bullet wound, don't get excited or lose your head. A bullet wound in the muscle or soft parts of the body causes little pain and, if properly dressed, heals in about two to three weeks. Protect the openings where the bullet entered and came out with the bandages found in the first-aid packet. Don't touch the wound with your fingers. Remove sufficient clothing to see the wounds. Then, and not before, open the first-aid packet and carefully unfold (open) the compress (pad found in the middle of each bandage) and place it over the wound and wrap the ends of the bandage fairly tight around the limb and fasten with the safety pin. If one compress is not large enough to cover the entire wound, use the second bandage. This bandaging will stop ordinary bleeding. Such a dressing may be all that is needed for several days. It is better to leave a wound undressed than to dress it carelessly or ignorantly, so that the dressing must be removed.