Early identification of severe hemorrhage is critical. The below image shows signs of ongoing life-threatening bleeding that may not have been noted or appropriately addressed in Care Under Fire.
These include:
Also called Arterial bleeding is the most serious type of bleeding. Since arterial blood flows from the heart, it’s oxygenated and bright red. It will also shoot out with each heartbeat in a rhythmic pattern.
In this type of bleeding, the blood flows steadily. If it's a large vein, the bleeding may be gushing. When a vein is cut, most veins will collapse, which helps to slow the bleeding. If it's a deep vein such as an iliac vein, the bleed can be just as difficult to control as an arterial bleed
The color of blood you see can indicate where the bleeding might be coming from. In this case, bright red blood indicates that it is oxygenated and likely an arterial bleed.
There will be extensive bleeding due to all of the blood vessels involved may not be vasoconstrictive. A second type of traumatic amputation occurs when the limb becomes completely detached from the body. As much as 1 L of blood may be lost before the arteries spasm and become vasoconstrictive (less than 1 minute).
Bandages that become soaked with blood generally indicate that the injury requires a tourniquet or the bandage was not placed on the wound correctly.
Any obvious ongoing life-threatening bleeding should be addressed immediately.