Have you ever been somewhere and you hurt yourself kind of badly, but you didn't have any really substantial treatments? These tips could help keep you safe.


Steps

1. Try to find something clean (or as clean as possible). If you can't find anything like a clean rag, a towel, a wad of napkins, or a paper towel, use your hand.
2. Apply the clean element to the wound and apply pressure. You must keep the pressure constant for at least four (4) minutes if it's a small wound, more if a larger wound, particularly if a vein or artery has been nicked or severed.
3. If the wound has hit a major vessel and will not stop bleeding, and is located on your arm or leg, consider a tourniquet. Find a piece of cloth, rope or wire that you can tie around the limb, between your heart and the wound. If you can't get it tight enough to stanch the flow of blood by hand, make a loop and stick something (like a stout branch) through it, and use it as a wrench to tighten the bandage until the bleeding stops. Warning: This type of tourniquet is really used as a last resort, if the wound is so severe you are in danger of bleeding to death from it before it can be stopped. Get to help immediately.
4. If you are in the woods or near any kind of water source, wash off the wound carefully without obstructing any of the abrasions. ** See note below.
5. Keep it elevated so you don't bleed out and you keep your blood pressure normal.
6. Seek the nearest pay phone or highway or a trail that is likely to lead to some area of civilization.
7. Call or have someone call 911 for you (if you have a mobile phone see if you get reception).

Tips

• Use an old shirt or the shirt off your own back.
• Always carry first-aid box with you while travelling by your own car/scooter etc. Useful (and very lightweight) items include: Gauze roll, Surgical tape, Band-Aids, butterfly bandages, Antibiotic Ointment, Antiseptic wipes
• If you don't have anything besides a book cover, use that.
• There is some controversy over washing out in the wild. If you have a freely bleeding wound and your companion (or looking at your reflection)tells you there is no foreign material in the wound, it may be better not to wash it, especially if the water is standing. Your blood comes out of your body sterile, and you may actually introduce bacteria or parasites into the wound by washing with water which may be contaminated. If the wound is dirty, of course, try to make it as clean as possible, but it may be best to use a small quantity of your drinking water, particularly if there is other water nearby which you could boil to make clean drinking water later.

Warnings

• If the bleeding does not stop after ten minutes, call an ambulance! You may have ruptured an artery, and these are not quick healers.
• Any wound that is deep with jagged edges will need to be seen. It will more likely need stitches!
• Any wound to the hands and face should be seen by a doctor.
• Use of a tourniquet can result in gangrene or loss of the limb. Use only in life or death emergency.