Spiral SearchHow to Spot and Stop Severe Bleeding
How to recognize life-threatening bleeding, and the three actions that save lives: call, press, and tourniquet.
Severe bleeding can be fatal within minutes. Call 911 now (or have someone else call) and start controlling the bleeding while help is on the way.
General information, not medical advice. Reading a guide is not a substitute for a hands-on first aid or CPR class (American Red Cross, American Heart Association, and local fire-rescue departments offer them). If someone may be in danger, call 911 and follow the dispatcher.
How to spot life-threatening bleeding
- Blood is spurting or pulsing from the wound.
- Blood does not stop after direct pressure, or soaks through the cloth.
- Blood is pooling on the ground or has soaked the person's clothes.
- An arm or leg has been partly or fully cut off.
- The person is confused, very pale, sweaty or drowsy, which can mean heavy blood loss (shock).
- Remember to look under clothing, because heavy bleeding can be hidden.
What to do
- Make sure the scene is safe for you. If you are in danger, get to safety first.
- Call 911 or have a bystander call. Even if you stop the bleeding, the person will likely need a surgeon.
- Find the bleeding and expose it. Cut or remove clothing if needed.
- Press hard directly on the wound with gauze, a clean cloth or clothing, using both hands and your body weight. Do not lift to check. If it soaks through, add more material on top.
- Pack deep wounds: if the wound is deep (for example in the groin or shoulder where a tourniquet cannot go), push gauze into the wound until it is full and keep pressing.
- Use a tourniquet on an arm or leg if pressure does not stop the bleeding: place it about 2 to 3 inches above the wound, not on a joint, and tighten until the bleeding stops. It will hurt; that is expected. Note the time it was applied.
- Keep pressure on until emergency responders take over. Do not remove a tourniquet yourself.
Things to avoid
- Do not remove an embedded object (knife, glass, metal). Pad around it and press around the edges.
- Do not use a tourniquet on the neck, chest or abdomen.
- Do not give food or drink.
- Do not stop pressing to “check” the wound.
Be prepared
Keep a bleeding-control kit (tourniquet, hemostatic or plain gauze, gloves, trauma shears) in your car and home, and take a free or low-cost Stop the Bleed class. Many fire-rescue departments and hospitals in Florida offer them.