This presentation is a brief overview on the subject of emergency treatment of bleeding in the field. It is meant to present principles rather than strict guidelines. Every situation is different, and as such you are the one who will be there and need to adapt and overcome each and every obstacle.
A disclaimer is presented here: I hold no responsibility for how this information is handled or administered. It is my sincere objective, goal, to present principles that every hunter or outdoorsman can apply in their specific emergency.
Do No Harm:
Whatever you do, do to the level of your training: you are protected by the Good Samaritan Act, provided you stay within your level of training. What a normal, competent individual would do with your training in your situation. You are not expected to perform surgery.
Minor Cuts And Bleeding:
Minor cuts and bleeding are most readily controlled by applying pressure and elevation. Most minor bleeding lacerations stop within ten minutes with moderate pressure and elevation. Some alcohol wipes and Band-Aids will suffice. The biggest issue with minor lacerations and cuts is infection. In the outdoors, gutting moose, etc….concerns include less than optimal personal hygiene, water resources that are less than pristine…keeping the dressing in place.
Having your small first aid kit for bleeding in your pack, on your person, means that when the accident occurs, you have the first aid supplies to deal with the injury. For a minor cut this would mean a sterile gauze pad, an alcohol wipe, and a couple of Band-Aids. Obtaining a small container of small, medium and large Band-Aids, as well as knuckle Band-Aids (which also work exceptionally well over the tip of the finger) is a good idea.
Small cuts can happen from a moose bone shard puncturing your hand, or by a sharp sheep rib; the jagged edge of the soup lid; nicking your finger; while cutting up a deer; caping a pronghorn, etc. In our situation as hunters it usually involves a dead animal, a knife, inattention, fatigue, and working too fast.
Most of the cuts will involve the hand, and are usually minor. However, we do have arteries, that if cut, will be almost impossible to stop. Trust me on this one! Squirting arterial lacerations need the intervention of a plastic surgeon; and as such cannot be dealt with in the field. And I will elaborate on this further on, under major, severe bleeding.
What is normal – what is severe – how do we tell…The normal adult requires numerous systems to operate perfectly, even if compensating:
v Pump: The heart must be capable of moving oxygenated blood throughout the body, and especially to the brain: it must be capable of adapting for increased demand loads.
v Pipes: The blood vessels and arteries are the pipes and conduits for this blood to move throughout the body. These pipes must be intact, ie. not cut or disrupted; able to expand and contract as required, to help move the blood.
v Blood: Roughly ten units in an average adult human for volume. The loss of even two units of blood is an emergency; can be life-threatening, and must be avoided at all costs.
When the body detects any of these systems out of the norm, it compensates. When we lose blood, the heart beats faster and stronger to compensate for the loss and to keep the same amount of oxygen that is in the blood entering the brain.
When we lose blood the pipes constrict, making for stronger, more forceful delivery of the remaining blood to the brain. There is less reserve standing by in the pipes.
When we have inadequate perfusion