You and one of your friends are thinning trees on a remote piece of property you hope to build on some day. While cutting a leaning tree in some thick brush, Jeep's chainsaw jumped cutting deeply into his left leg. In seconds, his jeans were soaked with blood. You have a couple of tourniquets in your first aid kit along with two hemostatic dressings, gauze, and elastic wraps courtesy of your grandfather. (Too bad you didn't take his advice and purchase protective gear....) Tearing open Jeep's jeans all you see is blood welling up from what appears to be a deep wound. Wiping away the blood with a trauma dressing from the kit, you can see the wound is deep. It quickly filled with dark blood again and direct pressure didn't seem to help very much. Your truck is close by but it's a good four hours to the nearest clinic with no cell reception.
What should you do? Click here to find out. Click here to read a blog article on the field management of severe bleeding.
Don't know where to begin or what to do? Take one of our wilderness medicine courses. Guides and expedition leaders should consider taking our Wilderness First Responder course.
Looking for a reliable field reference? Consider consider purchasing one of our print or digital handbooks; our digital handbook apps are available in English, Spanish, and Japanese. Updates are free for life. A digital SOAP note app is also available.