Let's say that you are walking through the woods and suddenly get cut by something sharp. It slashes your leg down by your shin fairly deep and you start bleeding badly. What would you do to stop it for bleeding and disinfecting it? Let's say you are about 5 miles from your campsite and you have no belongings with you other then a canister of water.
Well, I'd say your best option is to rip off a piece of your clothing and tie it around the cut to stop the bleeding and stop anymore stuff from getting inside it.
Let's assume that there is nothing around that can be used to stop the bleeding, no vegetation, no water. The most practical way to stop the bleeding is to press a piece of cloth and better if the leg can be wrapped. Don't laugh but I would take off my panty and use it as makeshift bandage. But before that, I would use saliva to disinfect the wound before applying the panty for a bandage. In another thread, I have posted the efficacy of guava leaves to stop bleeding, be it would or even ulceration. But I know guava is not very common like grass. However, there are grasses that can also be used for treating wounds. But pardon me because I'm not well-versed on this.
Well I always have a trauma pack on me! Inspect and clean if needed, bandage and make a crutch to help the return walk! I never have less than a trauma pack within reach!
Deep cuts with seeping flow of blood clean pack wrap cuts with blood pumping means vein is cut vein needs sewed or clamped clean sew or clamp pack wrap alot of cuts that people get can quicjly be sealed with super glue then covered super glue works great for this
Do not be in too much of a hurry to close a wound! Clean and pack! leave 24 hours unpack and clean again repack with sterile gauze bandage! At approx. 48 hours unpack and clean any remaining tead tissue/dirt etc If sure it is clean and all non viable tissue has been removed close and stitch! professionals can do it faster but I suspect none here are professionals! Small wounds can be just cleaned and cleaned again then closed up!
Pour some water on it and let it bleed for a minute, the movement of blood out of the wound takes potentially infection causing debris with it. Then wrap it with a piece of clothing, or pack it if it's a particularly bad wound but only if you have access to sterile bandages/gauze.
I strongly recommend everyone to take and complete a good first aid course doctors hospitals may become places to avoid. We here are hours away from doctors and hospitals already
I would suggest that you look for a comfortable place to sit down and relax so that the blood pressure goes down. When one is doing some activity like walking, blood pressure tends to rise. Then look for a clean piece of cloth and tie the wound firmly. Press your hand against the wound in order to contain the blood flow. This should give time to allow for clotting. Then you can find your way to the camp. The best weapon here is mental toughness and willpower but in my case, prayerfulness.
Tom One major fault with most first aid courses is the assumption that an ambulance is coming and there is a hospital to take them to! So the first aid courses are just patch and pass it on courses, you get bugger all information about anything else! If one is really serious about first aid in a SHTF world then something a bit more than patch and pass it on is needed. I would advise a Austere and wilderness medical aid course but that usually involves several thousands of dollars, pounds, euros of outlay, I have done the course and it was a real eye opener. And some really gross bits with colour pictures!
I carry a tourniquet with me. I know it's a military thing lol. However, if I must improvise I would rip a piece of my clothing. If I wasn't able to rip clothing then I would apply pressure to slow down the bleeding.
First of all, clean the cut to the best of your abilities with water, and try picking out any pieces of debris that may be inside. Next, rip an article of clothing of your choice and wrap it around the wound as tight as possible to stop the bleeding. Lastly, keep the cut elevated so you do not lose too much blood.
A tourniquet hurts like hell. It is better than bleeding to death, but only just. Pack the wounds with sterile gauze and apply a firm bandage. Irrigate the wound before hand if you have sterile water. 5 miles from camp without a first aid kit on you? You might just die from stupidity.
I don't go to the Dr unlesd some thing is broken or cut off I have sewn my self up many times with dental floss I clean the wound with peroxide then put honey in the cut heat the needle dup the floss into the honey grit my teeth and sew it shut I had gotten impelled in a engineer stake after a hour my nephew found me and was able to get my brother to get me off that's when the real pain started my mom had to take a tooth brush and scrub out the lead paint she packed the wound with honey and sew it up with thread dipped in honey when I asked her why she said bacteria will not grow in honey so I have done it ever sence then had to go to my son's school and check him out to put 23 stitchs in my shoulder
I've used superglue on head wounds before now instead of stitches and had it on a few wounds of my own. It stings like hell until it has gone hard. Keep it dry and leave it alone, it will come away with the scab.
The first thing to do is to stop bleeding by covering it with anything you have. The shirt you are wearing would be sufficient. Be sure to tie it very hard and after that you must apply pressure to the wound. Try to shout out loud if there are any people near but do not exhaust yourself because yuo dont know until when someone finds you. If you can move yourself to the direction of your camp then just try to move of what is in your current capability.
Since you have water on you, i suppose you wash the wound first and then cut out a piece of your cloth and tie it around the affected place. Most importand part is to make sure you stop the bleeding and avoid it being infected.
I think washing it as best as you can with the water, and wrapping it with an article of clothing is the best thing to do. If you can rest and relax for awhile it would probably be a good thing to do. It is just one of the things that might help you to stop the bleeding. However, it would be best to seek medical attention as soon as possible obviously!
