Avoid making a wound worse with the wrong moves, and know the three wounds where the usual reflex does harm: an embedded object stays in, a chest wound isn't sealed, and with an amputation, on the contrary, you don't hold off on the tourniquet.
Three wounds where restraint wins
Sometimes help is what you don't do
Some wounds call for restraint — three cases are worth knowing in advance.
An embedded object stays in. Leave a shard of glass, a nail, or a splinter in place, press around it, not on top, and pad it with dressings so it can't shift.
Example: A shard of glass sticks out of a neighbor's forearm. You don't touch it: you put on gloves, press clean cloth around it, hold the arm still, and call 911.
A chest wound. Older first-aid manuals seal it with an airtight (occlusive) dressing; current guidelines don't, because trapped air can build up in the chest (a tension pneumothorax). If you're untrained, leave the wound open, call 911, and watch the breathing.
Amputation is the rare case where a tourniquet is the first step, not the next one: call, tourniquet, time written down.
Cover a wound with a clean dressing. Dirt, plantain leaves (the common weed), and spit aren't first aid.
Don't throw away a severed part — a finger, a hand, an ear — but deal with it only after the person and their bleeding: wrap it in clean cloth, seal it in a bag, and put the bag in ice water; it goes with the person to the same hospital. Never put it on ice directly or let it freeze. Wash only a fresh scrape or a shallow cut that isn't bleeding much — clean running water, then a dressing; no alcohol or hydrogen peroxide; never a deep, heavily bleeding, or impaled wound.
Lesson notes
Sometimes help is what you don't do
Some wounds call for restraint — three cases are worth knowing in advance.
An embedded object stays in. Leave a shard of glass, a nail, or a splinter in place, press around it, not on top, and pad it with dressings so it can't shift.
Example: A shard of glass sticks out of a neighbor's forearm. You don't touch it: you put on gloves, press clean cloth around it, hold the arm still, and call 911.
A chest wound. Older first-aid manuals seal it with an airtight (occlusive) dressing; current guidelines don't, because trapped air can build up in the chest (a tension pneumothorax). If you're untrained, leave the wound open, call 911, and watch the breathing.
Amputation is the rare case where a tourniquet is the first step, not the next one: call, tourniquet, time written down.
Cover a wound with a clean dressing. Dirt, plantain leaves (the common weed), and spit aren't first aid.
Don't throw away a severed part — a finger, a hand, an ear — but deal with it only after the person and their bleeding: wrap it in clean cloth, seal it in a bag, and put the bag in ice water; it goes with the person to the same hospital. Never put it on ice directly or let it freeze. Wash only a fresh scrape or a shallow cut that isn't bleeding much — clean running water, then a dressing; no alcohol or hydrogen peroxide; never a deep, heavily bleeding, or impaled wound.