AY Honors/First Aid, Standard/Answer Key

Template:Honor header If residing in the United States or another country in which Red Cross instruction is given, satisfactorily pass the Red Cross Examination in Standard First Aid and receive your certificate.

In British countries pass the examination in St. John Ambulance and receive certificate for the same.

Or complete the following requirements:

5. Know the proper method of applying a tourniquet and when to apply one.

A tourniquet is a tightly tied band applied around a body part (an arm or a leg) sometimes used in an attempt to stop severe traumatic bleeding. Severe bleeding means the loss of more than 1,000 ml (1 litre) of blood. This flow of blood can soak a paper or cloth handkerchief in a few seconds. In such a situation, the bleeding will cause the death of the casualty in seconds to minutes.

A tourniquet is a last resort method of bleeding control. Other methods that should be applied first and in conjunction, if possible, include:

• direct pressure
• elevation of the limb or wound above the heart
• the use of a pressure point to slow the artery above the injury(s)
• blood-clotting agents or bandages

Even in cases of amputation, most bleeding can be controlled through these alternative methods. The rare exception is when a limb is shattered by massive trauma or when a major blood vessel is torn along its length. Even in these cases, the use of a pressure point above the wound is strongly preferred.

As the tourniquet stops blood flow to the limb, it can cause the death of the limb, forcing the later surgical amputation of the limb just below the level the tourniquet is applied. This is likely to occur when the tourniquet stays in place several hours. In any event, once a tourniquet has been applied, advanced medical care from a doctor or hospital will be required to salvage the limb if not save the life of the patient.

The decision to employ a tourniquet should be made by an emergency medical technician or preferably a doctor if at all possible. But when severe external bleeding cannot be controlled by other means, a tourniquet may be the only way for a first-aider to save the casualty.

Most civilian first aid instruction in the United States no longer teaches the use of the tourniquet for the following reasons:

• the effectiveness of direct pressure, elevation and pressure points (controlling severe bleeding in up to 90% of cases as estimated by US medical sources)
• the increased difficulty of reattaching an amputated limb when a tourniquet has been applied to the victim
• unnecessary use by poorly trained bystanders
• the unavoidable risks to both limb and life even when properly employed
• the rare nature of injuries that require tourniquets, which typically occur in unusual settings such as working with agricultural or industrial machinery and the battlefield

The use of a tourniquet by a layperson in countries where it is considered outside the scope of practice of first aid may result in civil lawsuits and/or criminal charges, especially if the application was later found to have been unnecessary.