Wound care

Back to the person you found. They may have one or more wounds from the fall that you now need to treat. Your goals are to stop any bleeding and to prevent infection.

There are some basic rules for wound care to keep in mind:

• First, think about your own safety and put on disposable gloves.
• Call emergency services if needed. If a wound is bleeding so heavily that its life-threatening and you are alone, treat it before calling. If another helper is available, they can call for help.
• Do not touch the wound.
• Do not rinse the wound unless one of the exceptions listed below applies.
• Do not remove foreign objects.
• Do not use home remedies.

Bite wounds can be rinsed with soapy water. Burns, scalds and chemical burns may be cooled or rinsed with clean water. For chemical burns, take care not to spread the corrosive substance onto surrounding skin, which would increase the area damaged. Burns and scalds should be cooled with water at about 20°C for no more than five minutes.

In general, wounds should be covered sterilely or as cleanly as possible. If available, use a sterile dressing pad. A ready-made dressing pack consists of a bandage with an integrated pad. If the wound is not bleeding heavily, place the pad on the wound and secure it with the bandage.

Do not open blisters to prevent infection.

For bleeding wounds, raise the injured area if possible for example by holding up the injured arm or leg. This helps reduce the bleeding. Press the dressing pad onto the wound. If the bleeding does not stop, wrap the bandage twice over the pad, then place a sealed, plastic-wrapped dressing pack on the wound area (an opened pack soaks up blood and cant provide compression) and wrap the rest of the bandage tightly over it. Apply pressure to stop the bleeding. If the area beyond the wound turns blue, the bandage is too tight and should be loosened, but not removed. If the dressing soaks through, apply a second pressure dressing over the first. Place the second dressing pack on top of the existing one.

If that still doesnt stop the bleeding, press the artery supplying the injured area at a point closer to the body than the wound.

On the upper arm you can find this on the inside of the arm between the biceps and the upper arm bone you can feel it pulsing.

For leg injuries, the spot to press is roughly in the middle of the groin crease. Kneel on the opposite side and wrap your hands around the thigh so your thumbs press on that point. This pushes the blood vessel against the bone and stops the blood flow.

Never press on the neck or apply a pressure bandage there. Instead, press with a dressing pad to control bleeding without impairing the persons breathing.

Injuries to the torso are also treated by pressing dressings onto the wound. If possible, a pressure bandage may be applied.

As already mentioned, foreign objects are not removed from the wound. Removing them can worsen or cause bleeding. Cover the object with a clean dressing without applying pressure. Pad around protruding objects and leave them in place, and keep the injured body part as still as possible.

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• Help with First Aid
• Recognizing and Helping During a Heart Attack
• First Aid - important points
• First Aid - Types of Shock
• First Aid - In Case of Emergency