Would you feel helpless if you saw a terror victim bleeding out? Don’t. Remove clothing from the area, and use a strip of cloth as a tourniquet above the gaping wound to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.
Photo by Diane Kilgore for New Boston Post.
During this month’s HUBweek celebration of innovation, STOP THE BLEED was one of the hands-on presentations offered to the public by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Inside a conference room a brief video suggested “when terror strikes we must consider ourselves to be first responders.”
The video mentions specifically the intentional chaos of the October 1 massacre in Las Vegas and the April 2013 Marathon bombings in Boston. Then the narrator notes, regrettably, that these are the times we live in and must be prepared for. After the video presentation hands-on classroom instruction included the basic how-to’s of what-to-do when faced with a disaster.
Tuesday’s attack near Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan is the most recent red flare of terror. It’s also a wake-up call. Should we find ourselves at an accident or terror site, how should we stop the bleed?
A combat tourniquet — fits easily in a purse. Photo by Diane Kilgore for New Boston Post
Brigham and Women’s suggests we remember our ABCs.
A : Alert 911 of a disaster and ask for emergency responders
B : Bleeding sights should be identified quickly by opening the victim’s clothing.
C: Compress the wound with enough manual pressure to stop the bleeding. If blood is spurting from a wound, jam your thumb or torn cloth into the hole. Contamination is a non-issue during the emergency.
Experts say jamming a bit of cloth or even a thumb in a bullet or shrapnel wound is vital, because stopping the bleeding is more important than avoiding contamination. Photo by Diane Kilgore for New Boston Post
The hands-on class also recommended the public become adept at tourniquet use. If bleeding is so severe pressure is insufficient or a limb is missing, tear any available cloth into a strip and place the strip as high as possible above the missing limb, twisting it to create enough tension to stop the bleed.
Tourniquets with windlass attachments are available on-line starting at less than $8. They are easy to use, easy to keep in a pocket or purse, and just may save a life.
Would you feel helpless if you saw a terror victim bleeding out? Don’t. Remove clothing from the area, and use a strip of cloth as a tourniquet above the gaping wound to apply pressure and stop the bleeding.
Photo by Diane Kilgore for New Boston Post. 
