—­Place the tourniquet as close to the wound as possible, between the wound and the patient’s heart.

—­After the tourniquet has been applied, do not permit it to be loosened (even temporarily, or even though the bleeding has stopped) by anyone except a physician, who can control the bleeding by other methods and replace the blood that the patient has lost.

—­Get a physician to treat the patient as soon as possible.

PREVENTING AND TREATING SHOCK

Being “in shock” means that a person’s circulatory system is not working properly, and not enough blood is getting to the vital centers of his brain and spinal cord.

These are the symptoms of shock:  The patient’s pulse is weak or rapid, or he may have no pulse that you can find.  His skin may be pale or blue, cold, or moist.  His breathing may be shallow or irregular.  He may have chills.  He may be thirsty.  He may get sick at his stomach and vomit.

A person can be “in shock” whether he is conscious or unconscious.

Important:  All seriously-injured persons should be treated for shock, even though they appear normal and alert.  Shock may cause death if not treated promptly, even though the injuries which brought on shock might not be serious enough to cause death.  In fact, persons may go into shock without having any physical injuries.

Here is how to treat any person who may be in shock: 

1.  Keep him lying down and keep him from chilling, but do not apply a hot water bottle or other heat to his body.  Also, loosen his clothing.

2.  Keep his head a little lower than his legs and hips.  But if he has a head or chest injury, or has difficulty in breathing, keep his head and shoulders slightly higher than the rest of his body.

3.  Encourage him to drink fluids if he is conscious and not nauseated, and if he does not have abdominal injuries.  Every 15 minutes give him a half-glass of this solution until he no longer wants it:  One teaspoonful of salt and a half-teaspoonful of baking soda to one quart of water.

4.  Do not give him alcohol.

BROKEN BONES

Any break in a bone is called a fracture.  If you think a person may have a fracture, treat it as though it were one.  Otherwise, you may cause further injury.  For example, if an arm or leg is injured and bleeding, splint it as well as bandage it.

With any fracture, first look for bleeding and control it.  Keep the patient comfortably warm and quiet, preferably lying down.  If you have an ice bag, apply it to the fracture to ease the pain.  Do not move the patient (unless his life is in danger where he is) without first applying a splint or otherwise immobilizing the bone that may be fractured.  Treat the patient for shock.