Its my belief that everyone, not just those who carry a firearm, should seek out and acquire basic medical training. Basic first aid, CPR, and a Stop The Bleed class are all inexpensive in terms of both time and money. Don't be the guy who can hit steel at 100yds but knows nothing about applying a tourniquet.Massive blood loss is the leading cause of preventable death in gun fights. The following is a very brief and basic guide to controlling massive blood loss. This guide DOES NOT replace quality in person training! Quality medical training is often inexpensive and can be best found by asking a member of your local fire department for recommendations.The BasicsYour safety comes first. Why are you always told to apply your oxygen mask first on an airplane? Because you cant help others if you are out yourself.Priorities of action: 1) Win the fight! 2) Alert 911 and place the phone down. 3) Assess the condition of yourself and loved ones. 4) Prioritize any present injuries and begin controlling them.To find the sources of bleeding look for: 1) Continuous bleeding. 2) Large volume bleeding. 3) Pooling of blood around or under the the injured.Bullets usually come in multiple pairs so make sue you check for multiple wounds. Clothing can hide wounds and blood loss. Now is not the time for modesty. Cut or rip off as much clothing as needed to check for wounds.The three main areas of bleeding: 1) Limbs. 2) Neck, arm pits, groin. 3) TorsoTourniquet UseLets clear up a myth right here: A quality tourniquet used correctly will RARELY lead to a loss of a limb. Massive blood loss, however, will often lead to a loss of life.Often the best course of action when you see large amounts of blood coming from a limb is to stick a tourniquet on it then move on to assess other injuries.Place high and tight on the injured limb and tighten until the bleeding stops.Do NOT remove a tourniquet once it is applied. The professionals at the hospital will take care of this.Write down the time the tourniquet was applied.Tourniquets hurt... a lot! This is normal.If the first tourniquet fails to stop the bleed, ensure it is tight enough, and apply a second if needed and available.If the injured is to small for a tourniquet to be effective (such as an infant), direct pressure will almost always work.Direct PressureDirect pressure can be applied using any type of cloth, clothes, or bandage.Use just enough material to cover the injury. You want to be able to see if the pressure is effective at stopping the bleeding.If pressure works, hold until help arrives or apply a pressure dressing.Often the pressure will need to be applied quite forcefully and it will hurt. Pain is the patients problem. Pain is better than bleeding out.Wound PackingWound packing is the process of taking gauze or other material and and directly pushing it down into the wound at the site of bleeding.This is mostly used on junctional injuries such as the neck, arm pits, and groin but can be used on limbs if no tourniquet is available and direct pressure is failing to work.Make sure you "sweep" out or soak up the pooled blood inside the injury before you begin to pack the wound.Pack in as much gauze as possible. Fil it all the way up and then apply direct pressure.Hemostatic gauze is best but other things will work in a pinch. The powder is no longer recommended.DO NOT wound pack the chest or abdominal area.MiscellaneousKeep impaled objects in place if possible. Removing them can increase the damage.Improvised tourniquets are mostly a thing of Hollywood. They take to long to make and are often ineffective. Direct pressure is almost always a better option when a real tourniquet is unavailable.For a loss of a limb always apply a tourniquet no matter the amount of blood you see. Surprisingly, a severed limb doesn't always produce as much blood as you may imagine.Remember, pain is the patients problem. Stop the bleed!Get an orange practice tourniquet and use it a few times every dryfire session.Go seek out training! via /r/CCW https://ift.tt/3cNzTWK
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