When applying a tourniquet, you should:
A.
Apply the tourniquet directly over the wound
B.
Apply the tourniquet two inches above the wound
C.
Apply the tourniquet two inches below the wound
D.
NEVER apply a tourniquet
Answers
Step-by-step explanation:
The European Resuscitation Council (ERC) First Aid Guidelines 2015 state that when direct pressure cannot control severe bleeding, tourniquets and haemostatic dressings are now advised. ILCOR (International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation) fully supports this
If someone is bleeding extremely heavily from either a major artery or vein, they can quickly lose a lot of blood. The bleeding is likely to pulsate in time with the heart. This is more pronounced with an arterial bleed, but happens within venous bleeds too. With extremely heavy, potentially catastrophic bleeding an adult could easily lose 40% of their blood volume in 3-4 minutes. This could be even quicker when dealing with children.
If a casualty loses a substantial amount of blood – more than 40% of their blood volume, the body is no longer able to compensate for that amount of blood loss. They will develop hypovolaemic shock. Hypovolaemic shock is a low volume of blood causing failure of the circulatory system, if untreated they will die.
Military and civilian research has shown wealth of evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of tourniquets and haemostatic dressings in the treatment of life-threatening bleeding.