Blood loss
'I walked through a glass door. I cut my leg open. But I didn’t
panic. I just needed someone who’d learnt first aid. To put
pressure on the wound. Raise my leg. Stem the bleeding. But there
was no someone.'
Keiko is not a real person, but this represents the reality for
the people who bleed to death every year – dying needlessly when
basic first aid could have been the difference.
Saving a life could be as simple as putting pressure on a wound
and raising it to stop the blood flow, yet nearly a third of people
told St John Ambulance they would have no idea what to do if this
happened to someone they knew.
And of those who felt confident, most would have done the wrong
thing and used a tourniquet, which actually damages the tissue and
can lead to complications.
Most people don’t know the simple, effective steps to take to
stop someone bleeding to death. Put life saving information in your
pocket with a free first aid guide.
How to be the
difference for someone with severe bleeding