How to Treat a Laceration

Video Transcript

CAPT. JOE BRUNI: Hi. I'm Captain Joe Bruni with over 30 years of firefighting and emergency medical service experience. I'm going to go over and talk about how to treat a laceration. With a laceration, there can be a significant amount of blood loss, depending on where the laceration has occurred on the body. Quickly take some type of possibly sterile dressing from a first aid kit, or if not available, some type of clean cloth to place over the wound or site injury and then apply pressure. Pressure can be held in place by the person administering the first aid or by the victim themselves. If the victim chooses to apply first aid, they'll hold pressure in that area until the rescuer can apply some kind of tape to hold the bandage down. In a short period of time, if the bandage begins to show signs of blood bleeding through, do not remove the bandage. Simply apply more dressings over the soaked through bandage and apply tape, and seek medical attention, remembering to look for signs of shock. Remember, to treat your basic laceration, quickly use some type of sterile dressing if available, and if not some type of clean dry cloth, place over the injury, and apply pressure for a short period of time, trying to stop bleeding. Then seek medical attention, watching for signs of shock and treating if they occur.