Stop the Bleed

Life-threatening bleed

CCMS-MED-SOP-001 §6.1

Soaking, spurting, amputation, pale/unconscious, or a quiet child in a pool of blood. This is 911 and a tourniquet problem.

1. 1

   Gloves. Direct pressure with both hands. Do not peek to 'check it.'

2. 2

   Limb: tourniquet 2–3 inches above the wound, not on a joint. Tighten until bleeding stops. Write the time on the tourniquet and on the forehead if you can.

3. 3

   If the first tourniquet fails, place a second above it. Do not loosen a working tourniquet to 'let it perfuse.'

4. 4

   Junctional (groin, axilla, neck): pack with gauze, preferably hemostatic, and hold pressure. There is no civilian tourniquet for the neck.

• Hand off tourniquet time to EMS in the first sentence.

This field guide does not replace 911, a medical director, or licensed clinical judgment. It does not authorize anyone to practice beyond license and current training.