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WarDoctor · December 18, 2005, 09:23 PM

Obviously you call 911 first, IF you're in a situation where that's relevant (e.g. NOT 50 miles into the wilderness with no phone).
O/w, the two big issues are these: are you dealing with capillary leakage/venous bleeding or arterial bleeding?
In both situations, unless you're a WELL trained doctor, nurse or medic, your best bet is to apply pressure and if available, apply Quik-Clot, a volcanic ash media that I have seen stop all kinds of bleeding, even from fairly large arterioles (available from www.z-medica.com, and no I don't own stock in the company and have no connection there ). If there is an arterial bleed, then the problem is finding and isolating the bleeder. If large, it will need to have compression until trauma level care can be found, and you will need to focus on preventing shock (keep the patient warm, and if possible hydrate them to counterbalance fluid loss). If you have the skill and equipment, then suturing is the final solution if you're in a situation where medical help is far away. Hopefully the two ends of the arterial vessel can be re-anastomosed, and this requires suturing from the posterial wall forward. O/w the limb or organ served by that vessel is history.
Hope that helps.

December 18, 2005, 09:23 PM	#55
WarDoctor Junior Member Join Date: December 18, 2005 Posts: 9	issues around Stopping bleeding in real situations--- Obviously you call 911 first, IF you're in a situation where that's relevant (e.g. NOT 50 miles into the wilderness with no phone). O/w, the two big issues are these: are you dealing with capillary leakage/venous bleeding or arterial bleeding? In both situations, unless you're a WELL trained doctor, nurse or medic, your best bet is to apply pressure and if available, apply Quik-Clot, a volcanic ash media that I have seen stop all kinds of bleeding, even from fairly large arterioles (available from www.z-medica.com, and no I don't own stock in the company and have no connection there ). If there is an arterial bleed, then the problem is finding and isolating the bleeder. If large, it will need to have compression until trauma level care can be found, and you will need to focus on preventing shock (keep the patient warm, and if possible hydrate them to counterbalance fluid loss). If you have the skill and equipment, then suturing is the final solution if you're in a situation where medical help is far away. Hopefully the two ends of the arterial vessel can be re-anastomosed, and this requires suturing from the posterial wall forward. O/w the limb or organ served by that vessel is history. Hope that helps.