BLEEDING FROM LARGE ARTERY IN SPURTS OF BRIGHT BLOOD.
First Aid Rule 1.—Speed increases safety. Put patient down flat. Make pressure with hands between the wound and the heart till surgeon arrives, assistants taking turns.
Rule 2.—If arm or leg, tie rubber tubing or rubber suspenders tight about limb between wound and heart, or tie strap or rope over handkerchief or folded shirt wrapped about limb. If arm, put baseball in arm pit, and press arm against this. Or, for arm or leg, tie folded cloth in loose noose around limb, put cane or umbrella through noose and twist up the slack very tight, so as to compress the main artery with knot.
Rule 3.—Keep limb and patient warm with hot-water bottles till surgeon arrives.
This treatment is of course only a temporary expedient, as it is essential for a surgeon to tie the bleeding vessel itself; therefore a medical man should be summoned with all dispatch.
BLEEDING FROM VEIN; STEADY FLOW OF DARK BLOOD.
First Aid Rule 1.—Make firm pressure with pad of cloth directly over wound, also with hands between wound and extremity, that is, on side of cut away from the heart.
Rule 2.—Tie tight bandage about limb at this point, with rubber tubing or suspenders.
Rule 3.—Keep limb and patient warm with hot-water bottles till surgeon arrives.
In the cases of bleeding from a vein, the flow of blood is continuous, and is of a dark, red hue, and does not spurt in jets, as from an artery. This kind of bleeding is not usually difficult to stop, and it is not necessary that the vein itself be tied—unless very large—provided that the wound be snugly bandaged after it is dressed. After the first half hour, release the limb and see if the bleeding has stopped. If so, and the circulation is being interfered with, owing to the tightness of the bandage, reapply the bandage more loosely.