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Curing wounds
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The skin protects the body from external pathogen agents, regulates its temperature and takes care of gas exchange. If an injured person is conscious and is having a big hemorrhage, the priority has to be to stop it immediately.
Serious wounds
Serious wounds bleed profusely, often in a pulsating manner. First thing to do is to raise the affected part, if at all possible. It is recommended, additionally, to attend to the patient while he or she is sitting or lying down, since the person could collapse. As first measure, a pressure bandage must be applied. To do this, a padding made of gauze is applied firmly over the wound and then this is wrapped with a bandage. If there is no gauze available to make the padding, pieces of cloth or paper towel can be used as an alternative. Too tight a bandage causes obstructing in the veins, which then tend to protrude, so the bandage must be loosen a bit. If with all this the hemorrhage continues, a second bandage must be wrapped over the first one. Serious hemorrhages must also be stopped with bandages, and not with a tourniquet (ligature) on the affected extremity, since they can lead to serious nerve lesions and therefore to amputation. Only when everything else has failed and medical assistance if far away should a tourniquet be applied. |
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Slight injuries and scrapes
Cleanse carefully the skin around the injury area. Next, wash the injury with drinking water and eliminate strange bodies with tweezers. Let dry and apply an antiseptic (iodine). Bandage the wound with a sterilized compress and gauze. Change the bandages daily, if possible.
Infections
Swelling and reddening accompanied with pain and pus formation are indications that a local infection has appeared. If it is not treated, the infection can spread dangerously to the rest of the body. In these cases the bandages must be changed daily, the injury cleaned and antiseptic applied, and depending on the situation, antibiotics must be administered (penicillin in high doses). If the infection worsens and produces high fever, the excursion must be immediately interrupted, maintaining the application of antibiotics.
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Suturing wounds
Persons without knowledge are seldom capable of suturing an open wound. It is a lot easier to close the wound with no traumatic suturing sterile strips (Steristrips). The open wound (usually a cutting wound) must be cleansed and cured according to the instructions just mentioned. Next, secure the borders of the wound with suture strips. Lastly, bandage the wound with sterilized material. If the wound gets infected, the suture strips must be taken out without replacing them. As an alternative, sterilized adhesive strips can be used (leucoplast suture strips). They must be cut so that the contact with the wound is reduced to a minimum. |
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