Survival guides · First Aid & Health

Stop Severe Bleeding

ACT NOWBlood is spurting, pooling, or won't stop. A person can bleed to death in 5 minutes.

1. Press hard on the wound

   
   • Clean cloth, gauze or clothing right on the wound.
   • Press hard with both hands. Lean your body weight into it.
   • Don't lift it to look.
   • Soaks through? Add more on top. Keep pressing.
   Why

   Lifting the cloth tears up the clot that's forming. Raising the limb used to be taught — it was dropped because it doesn't reliably slow bleeding, and anything that interrupts pressure makes things worse.

2. Pack it if it's deep

   • Deep wound — especially groin, armpit or neck, where a tourniquet won't work?
   • Stuff clean gauze or cloth firmly into the wound.
   • Then press hard on top.

3. Arm or leg still bleeding? Tourniquet

   • Pressure not stopping it? Tourniquet 2–3 inches above the wound. (See: Apply a Tourniquet.)
   • No tourniquet? Press harder — both hands, full body weight — and don't let up.
   • Use it early — it's not a last resort.
   • Note the time.

4. Keep them still and warm

   • Lay them down. Cover with a blanket.
   • Something stuck in the wound? Leave it in. Pad around it to hold it still.
   • Get help coming — 911 if there's service, or send someone. Severe bleeding needs a hospital.
   • No signal at all? Dial 911 anyway — iPhone 14 and newer offer to text 911 by satellite. Get outside, clear view of the sky.

Sources: DHS Stop the Bleed Campaign · American College of Surgeons

General information to help in an emergency — not a substitute for training or professional care.