Premergency First Aid, CPR and AED Manual

7 Bleeding, Wound Care and Trauma

Mouth injuries With mouth injuries you must take steps to prevent blood or pieces of bone or teeth from entering the throat and airway. Position the patient to allow blood or debris to drain from the mouth. Apply gentle pressure with a dressing until bleeding stops. If the patient is able, provide them with a dressing to hold inside their mouth against the bleeding. Never leave anything unattended inside the mouth of a patient with an altered LOC. If a tooth is knocked out, it can be reimplanted if medical care is available quickly enough. Save the tooth. Handle the tooth only by the crown (top) and never by the root. Place the tooth in a cup with milk or saline. If a cup isn’t available, wrap the tooth in a moistened dressing. Dressing can be moistened with the patient’s saliva. Place moistened tooth in plastic wrap.

Neck and Throat injuries Injuries to the neck and throat can cause complications to the airway as well.

If a wound penetrates deep enough, it may bleed into the throat and airway. Injured tissue around the airway can swell. Be careful not to compress the throat and airway when using pressure to control bleeding. Never compress both sides of the neck at the same time. This can reduce blood flow to the brain and cause disability or death.

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