ACCIDENTS AND EMERGENCIES 



2 9 I 



402. What to do First. Do not be afraid to act at once. 

 A resolute grip in the right place with firm fingers will do 

 well enough until a knotted handkerchief, stout cord, shoe 

 string, or an improvised 



tourniquet l is ready to 

 take its place. If the 

 flow of blood does not 

 stop, change the pres- 

 sure until the right spot 

 is found. 



403. Where and how 

 to apply Pressure. The 

 principal places in which 

 to apply pressure when 

 arteries are injured and 

 bleeding should always 

 be kept in mind. 



If in the finger, grasp 

 it with the thumb and 

 forefinger and pinch it 

 firmly on each side ; if 

 in the hand, press on the 



1 A tourniquet is a bandage, 

 handkerchief, or strap of web- 

 bing into the middle of which 

 a stone, a potato, a small block 

 of wood, or any hard, smooth 

 body is tied. The band is tied 

 loosely about the limb, the hard 



FIG. 182. 



Showing how an improvised apparatus, or tem- 

 porary tourniquet, may be adapted to arrest 

 bleeding from an artery in the arm. This 

 apparatus consists of half of a potato held 

 in place over the artery by a pocket hand- 

 kerchief used as a band. A stick, picked up 

 on the ground, is inserted beneath the band 

 on the opposite side of the limb and used as 

 a lever to press the potato firmly against 

 the artery. 



body is held over the artery to 

 be constricted, and a stick is inserted beneath the band on the opposite 

 side of the limb and used to twist the band in such a way that the 

 limb is tightly constricted thereby, and the hard body thus made to 

 compress the artery. 



