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Use a tourniquet only when bleeding cannot be stopped and is life threatening. 1 Place a 2-3” strip of material about 2” from the edge of the wound over a long bone between the wound and the heart.

Tourniquets in place for more than 2 h, especially those in place 6 h or longer, should be removed in a critical care setting, with the capability to address the local and systemic reperfusion effects associated with prolonged ischemia, as well as treat rhabdomyolysis, compartment syndrome, and other possible …

Leaving on too long: A tourniquet should not be left for longer than two hours. When applied for a longer time, tourniquets can cause permanent damage to muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.

A tourniquet should be at least 4cm wide to prevent localised damage to nerves tissues. A tourniquet must be put on sufficiently tight to stop the bleeding. If it is not tight enough it can actually end up increasing blood loss. It may be necessary to apply more than one tourniquet to completely stop bleeding.

Complications of tourniquet It can range from mild transient loss of function to irreversible damage and paralysis. Intraoperative bleeding may occur due to an under-pressurized cuff, insufficient exsanguination, improper cuff selection, loosely applied cuff, calcified vessels or too slow inflation or deflation.

The victim should be removed from the heat source and moved to a safe place. STOP and DROP “policy” should be followed.

1. Nerve Injury. Nerve injury is the most common complication from the use of tourniquets during upper-extremity surgery, and can also occur in thigh and lower leg cuff applications.

The disadvantages of tourniquet use mainly include damaging blood vessels and local soft tissue and increasing fibrinolytic activity [4]. Although tranexamic acid can decrease fibrinolytic activity, when combined with the use of a tourniquet, fibrinolytic activity will increase [5].

Place a sterile bandage or clean cloth on the wound. Press the bandage firmly with your palm to control bleeding. Apply constant pressure until the bleeding stops. Maintain pressure by binding the wound with a thick bandage or a piece of clean cloth.

4. Periodically loosening a tourniquet. For many decades, first aid classes taught that whenever a tourniquet was applied to an extremity, the tourniquet should be loosened every 15 to 20 minutes to allow blood to return into the arm or leg.

Immediately apply firm, direct pressure to the wound — using gauze, clean cloth, an elbow, hand, or knee — whatever it takes to slow or stop the hemorrhage. If the pressure does not stop the bleeding, and the dressing becomes soaked with blood, you will need to apply a tourniquet.

First-degree and mild second-degree burns can usually be treated at home, but more extensive second-degree burns and third-degree burns require immediate medical attention.

Any unconscious casualty (even with a suspected spinal injury) should be positioned onto their side because, quite simply, if you don’t have an airway, you don’t have a casualty.

Call or tell someone to call 911. Check the person’s airway, breathing, and pulse frequently. If necessary, begin CPR. If the person is breathing and lying on their back, and you do not think there is a spinal injury, carefully roll the person toward you onto their side.

If they’re not breathing, open the airway and give 5 initial rescue breaths before starting CPR. Find out how to give CPR, including rescue breaths. If the person is unconscious but still breathing, put them into the recovery position with their head lower than their body and call an ambulance immediately.