Stop the bleeding

Below are the recommended steps to stop bleeding in an emergency:

First, ensure your own safety and call 911 or designate someone else to do so.

Look for life-threatening bleeding, including spurting wounds. Bleeding also can be life-threatening if the blood is pooling or if the victim becomes confused or unconscious.

Compress and control the bleeding. Either use direct pressure over the wound, apply a tourniquet or pack the wound with gauze, clean cloth or other material.

Most of Walker’s staff were trained in CPR, but were new to bleeding control training. Consequently, they peppered Trummel with questions.

Walker, for example, said when he was a Boy Scout in the 1970s, he was taught that applying a tourniquet should be a measure of last resort, since it could lead to amputation.

But those rumors have proven to be unfounded by research, Trummel said, and tourniquets are one of the best measures to help stop bleeding.

“It doesn’t matter if you come in with 10 tourniquets, just stop the bleeding,” she said.

Homemade tourniquets will work in a pinch, but if possible, Trummel said the staff should avoid using thin materials like shoelaces except as a last resort. Belts and thick lanyards usually work well.

She also reminded staff that unless they have an open wound themselves, the likelihood of contacting a blood-born infection is low. That means they can safely apply pressure directly to an open wound, she said, adding that they should still inform EMTs that they’ve come in contact with blood once the crisis has passed.

K.M. Cannon Las Vegas Review-Journal @KMCannonPhoto Las Vegas Academy teacher Eva Williams learns how to apply a tourniquet with John Maholick during University Medical Center’s “Stop the Bleed” training.