Instructor Preparation - Online Blended Part 1
Course Content
- Instructor preparation and update course introduction
- FAW Blended Part One Introduction and Regulations
- The Human Body
- First Aid the Initial Steps
- Asking permission and consent to help
- Calling the Emergency Services
- What3Words - location app
- Waiting for the E.M.S to arrive
- Scene Safety
- Chain of Survival
- DRcABCDE approach
- Using gloves
- How to use face shields
- Hand Washing
- Waterless hand gels
- Initial Assessment and Recovery Position
- BSi First Aid Kit
- Cardiac Arrest and Heart Conditions
- Adult CPR Introduction
- RCUK & ERC Resus Guidelines
- Heart Attack
- Heart Attack Position
- Aspirin and the Aspod
- Respiration and Breathing
- Pulse Points
- When to call for assistance
- Three Steps to Save a Life (2025)
- Adult CPR
- Effective CPR
- Improving breaths
- Improving compressions
- Compressions Only CPR
- CPR Hand Over
- Seizures and Cardiac Arrest
- Drowning
- AED Introduction
- Using an AED - brief overview and demonstration
- Choking Management
- Bleeding Control
- Catastrophic Bleeding
- Why is this Training Now Required?
- Prioritising first aid
- Bleeding assessment
- Blood Loss - A Practical Demonstration
- Hemostatic Dressing or Tourniquet?
- Tourniquets and Where to Use Them
- Types of Tourniquets
- Improvised Tourniquets
- When Tourniquets Don't Work - Applying a Second
- Hemostatic Dressings
- Packing a Wound with Celox Z Fold Hemostatic Dressing
- The Woundclot range
- How Does Woundclot Work
- Woundclot features
- Woundclot and direct pressure
- Packing a wound with Woundclot
- Woundclot and knife injuries
- Woundclot and large areas
- Shock and Spinal Injury
- Injuries
- Secondary Care Introduction
- Injury Assessment
- Strains and Sprains and the RICE procedure
- Adult fractures
- Splints
- Dislocated Shoulders and Joints
- Types of head injury and consciousness
- Eye Injuries
- Foreign object in the eye
- Burns and burn kits
- Treating a burn
- Blister Care
- Electrical Injuries
- Abdominal Injuries
- Chest Injuries
- Heat emergencies
- Cold emergencies
- Dental Injuries
- Bites and stings
- Treating Snake Bites
- Splinters
- Illness
- Introduction to Paediatric and Adult First Aid
- Paediatric CPR and Choking
- Specific Paediatric Conditions
- How to use an AED
- Extra Subjects to allow you to teach specialist courses
- Teaching Equipment
- Summary
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Tourniquets and Where to Use Them
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Now, tourniquets can only be used on arms and legs. They cannot be used in any other part of the body. So they are a very, very good tool for stopping bleeding because they will stop all blood flow beyond that point. The one we have got here is the rapid stop. There are lots of other different types of tourniquet we could be talking about here, different designs. They all work in a similar way in the sense that how they work, they constrict the arm or the leg to stop bleeding. But the action would be different. This particular one is a ratchet action. Others will be rotary. Some have a rotary knob on them, others have a windlass that you wind around. Or you could be looking at an improvised tourniquet. This could be a triangular bandage, the material type, not the paper type. You would wind it around with a spanner. Or you could be using a tourniquet, which is a citizen-aid product. Now, when we are putting these on, as you apply them, it is going to be painful for the casualty, but once it is on, it will start to become more comfortable because you are just going to cut the blood flow and it is going to go numb. But it will be painful, so just be aware of that. They may will be shouting, screaming, things like that, so just make sure they are not going to lash out at you and you keep them safe. So the general rule is observe the injury and make sure you are ready to use them. So is direct pressure or haemostats an option before you put them on. But if you have decided to put them on, you need to put them above where the injury is and then you apply the tourniquet on in place. Now, how they actually work will be as it is crushing on the body to start with, it is crushing the capillaries in the skin, which will cut a little bit of blood flow, but not a massive amount. Then it is pushing through and the next one that probably will be cut off is the venous return. And then the final one will be the arteries. Now, arteries, because they are pulsing blood and under high pressure, and naturally your body has them in the safest possible place nearest to the bone. So you do need to apply a lot of pressure. Now, if you just cut off the venous return without cutting off the arteries, every bit of blood that could pump through there, the only place it could go is out through the cut. Because normally if you have got a cut like this and you put a tourniquet on, or even if it is just leaving it open, blood is going to come out here, but some of it will be returning back through the body in the venous system. If you do not put this on tight enough, you are going to potentially cut off the venous system without cutting off the arterial system. So you need to apply enough pressure on them, which is why when you are putting them on, you need to make sure that you pull them tight first before winding round and before using a ratchet. Because what you might find is you get to the very end of the ratchet or end of the wind round, in which case you are going to have to put a second one on. So pull it by hand on tight first and then start ratcheting it or winding it round to actually stop the blood flow. Now, as far as using tourniquets too high up the arm and leg, you are getting very close to joints, so that is the point where you are going to need to stop to use them and you have to move on to packing the wound with a hemostat and putting trauma dressings on to apply any junctional type issues right up into the groin or right up here, because you are not going to be able to apply a tourniquet As far as where you are using them, so you put the tourniquet on above the injury. Remember, the second one will go above that, not below it and not over the top of it or anything silly like that. It must go above and you can use a second tourniquet if you have got one in your kit. Some kits do have two tourniquets, but others may not, in which case then you need to find something to use as a windlass, put an improvised one above the first one and hopefully that will stop. And obviously, once you put tourniquets on, keep monitoring the patient, keep looking at the injury to see whether there is any bleeding and hopefully that this will stop the bleed. And also make sure you note the time it has been applied. And also if you put a second one on the time that was applied and make sure the emergency services know that. So when the patient gets to hospital, the doctors there will know how long that tourniquet has been in place. You can get a pen and just write on the patient, just write what the time is applied as well as telling the emergency services. And also make sure if you do put tourniquets on and you cover the patient up, which you need to, to keep them warm. Do not just cover this up and do not look at it. Make sure you cover a patient up and make sure it is obvious that there is a tourniquet. And make sure you tell everybody who arrives on scene that you have put a tourniquet on just in case it is covered over and bandaged and someone does not notice it is there because of lots of other injuries that they are dealing with.
Effective Use of Tourniquets in Emergency Situations
Learn how and when to use tourniquets to control catastrophic bleeding in limbs, an essential skill for immediate response in life-threatening situations.
Understanding Tourniquets
Tourniquets are critical tools for stopping severe bleeding in arms and legs, where direct pressure and hemostatic dressings are insufficient. Their correct application is vital in cases of catastrophic bleeds, such as amputations and gunshot wounds.
The Critical Nature of Catastrophic Bleeding
A loss of 40% of blood volume can be fatal, with rapid action required to prevent death from severe bleeds, especially in high-risk areas like the femoral artery.
Integrating "C" for Catastrophic Bleeding into Emergency Response
Incorporate catastrophic bleeding control into the initial steps of emergency care, prioritizing it before CPR to ensure effective treatment of life-threatening conditions.
Application Principles
- Location: Apply on limbs only, avoiding joints, with the tourniquet placed directly on the skin or over clothing if necessary.
- Technique: Ensure the tourniquet is tightened enough to occlude arterial blood flow, not just venous.
- Self-Application: Tourniquets can be applied one-handed, a technique often used in military contexts.
Do's and Don'ts of Tourniquet Use
- Do: Apply the tourniquet at least 5cm (2 inches) above the knee or elbow joint to avoid joint damage.
- Don't: Remove a tourniquet once applied. Only medical professionals in a hospital setting should do this.
Conclusion
Proper use of tourniquets can save lives by controlling severe bleeding. Training and preparedness are key to ensuring you can effectively respond when every second counts.
- IPOSi Unit three LO3.1, 3.2, 3.3 & 3.4
