Excessive Bleeding Control

In the 2015 European Resuscitation Council changes, there was a clarification on what's called excessive or catastrophic bleeding. This type of bleeding is immediately life-threatening and could be a blast injury, amputation of a limb or other serious injuries. It's important to note that the use of tourniquets and hemostatic dressings that we will discuss are only to be used in excessive blood loss conditions where conventional dressings are not effective. Tourniquets and hemostatic dressings have been used successfully in the military and in emergency services all over the world. A tourniquet is a strap that's tightened above the injury site of an affected limb and tightened to stop blood flow after that point. Care has to be taken with these as they can do a lot of damage and there are special rules. Tourniquets are used as a last resort for controlling bleeding. Hemostatic dressings are impregnated with a special clotting agent, which reacts with the blood to clot and stop the bleed. Common brands are Celox, HemCon, or QuikClot. These dressings are also suitable for those who have problems with blood clotting in serious accidents. Hemostatic dressings are ideal on any part of the body, and these dressings can be packed into a wound and then another dressing placed over the top to hold it in place.

This video is just an insight into these methods of controlling excessive bleeding. And if you are working in a high-risk area where you may need them, you can get further training on their effective use.