Emergency bleeding control

[3] The most common descriptors of wounds are these: External bleeding is generally described in terms of the origin of the blood flow by vessel type.

Third parties assisting a patient are always advised to use protective latex or nitrile medical gloves to reduce risk of infection or contamination passing either way.

Some protocols continue to include it, but recent studies have failed to find any evidence of its effectiveness and it was removed from the PHTLS guidance in 2006.

Pressure on the carotid artery can also cause vagal tone induced bradycardia, which can eventually stop the heart.

Other dangers in use of a constricting method include rhabdomyolysis, which is a buildup of toxins below the pressure point, which if released back into the main bloodstream may cause kidney failure.

[citation needed] Another method of achieving constriction of the supplying artery is a tourniquet - a band tied tightly around a limb to restrict blood flow.

Improvised tourniquets, in addition to creating potential problems for the ongoing medical management of the patient, usually fail to achieve force enough to adequately compress the arteries of the limb.

[16] Some protocols call for the use of clotting accelerating agents, which can be either externally applied as a powder or gel, or pre-dosed in a dressing or as an intravenous injection.

[19][20] A new product of this type (Cresilon Hemostatic Gel or CHG, Vetigel in its veterinary version)[21][22] allows to close great wounds in a few moments.

The key dangers of internal bleeding include hypovolaemic shock (leading to exsanguination), a tamponade on the heart or a haemothorax on the lung.