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by James Hubbard, MD, MPH
Tourniquets have been on my mind lately. It’s a shame many people don’t know how to properly apply one to stop bleeding. It’s so easy. But, like most things, someone has to show you before you can learn.
I read of a man bitten on his thigh by a beaver. The large femoral artery that runs from the groin down the inner thigh was severed, and the man bled to death. My first thought was, maybe he could have been saved if someone had known how to stop the bleeding—in particular, how to apply a tourniquet.
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by James Hubbard, MD, MPH
I’m constantly amazed by the effect even the lowest dose of aspirin has on bleeding. I’ll be putting pressure on a cut, and the bleeding will just not be stopping. The person with the cut will have already told me they have no known bleeding disorders and haven’t taken any aspirin, and I’ll ask again.
“Well, I did take something a few days ago. It may have had aspirin in it.” Or, “Oh, I do take a baby aspirin.” Voila. I have my answer. I’ll just have to apply pressure for ten minutes instead of five, Or twenty minutes instead of ten. Aspirin doesn’t stay in the system that long, but its effect on bleeding does.
Here’s how.
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They’re here!
The very first Survival Doctor’s Guide e-books are officially on sale. And for 24 hours only, my loyal readers get a 25-percent discount. They’re just $2.99 each.
Come and get ‘em!
In The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Wounds and The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Burns, you’ll learn how to treat everything from the most minor to the most severe injuries when you can’t get to a doctor. And no matter where you are, if you have your e-reader, smartphone, tablet, or computer with you—whatever you put the books on—you’ll have me as your virtual guide.
Click here to download the books right now so you don’t miss the sale. It expires at midnight!
I hope you enjoy these compact, interactive guides. I look forward to hearing your reviews.
“The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Wounds” (available July 17) is written in the way doctors think—with easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions.
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
People sometimes ask me how doctors keep all that stuff in their head. There are a gazillion diseases and injuries (give or take), so how does one doctor figure out what to do just for you?
The answer is, of course, we don’t know everything. That’s why there are specialists. But what we do know, we have compartmentalized in our brains. To figure out what’s wrong with you, we go through step-by-step checks, which help us rule out and rule in things.
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“The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Wounds” goes on sale next Tuesday, with a special discount for 24 hours!
by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
I’m so excited. After many months—really years—of preparation, I’m publishing my first two in a series of mulitmedia, interactive e-books.
The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Wounds and The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Burns will take you step-by-step through the process of evaluating and treating these common injuries—from minor, everyday cuts to life-threatening, third-degree burns. And to thank you, I’m offering a special discount for the first 24 hours they’re on sale.
About the New, Interactive Survival Books
The books, on sale next Tuesday (July 17) through Amazon.com, are written in the same user-friendly manner as my blog posts, but with a more thorough focus on one particular subject. You’ll learn how to evaluate an injury and treat it, and what to do if something goes wrong.
For instance, in The Survival Doctor’s Guide to Wounds:
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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Pressure dressing, pressure bandage, compression dressing, compression bandage, they’re all the same thing to me. They’re bandages that press down on—compress—a wound. Most of the time this is to stop a wound from bleeding. (If you’ve applied pressure for about 10 minutes and it’s still bleeding, it might be time for a pressure bandage.)
So what’s the big deal about using one?
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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H
If you need to repair a head cut and can’t get to the doctor, this a neat little trick. All you need are two things: a cut on the scalp and hair.
The hair has to be at least an inch or two long and has to surround the head cut. You twist hair strands on both sides of the cut, cross them over the cut to close it, and glue down your masterpiece. Repeat the process along the cut from one end to the other.
Actually, some doctors use this procedure in the office, especially on kids. I don’t. It’s not that I’m cruel. It’s just, I’m afraid the child might pick at it enough to unstick the hair. But, in a bind, it’s a great little trick. If you have some strong string, like dental floss, you can tie it around the strands where they cross. That way, you don’t have to depend completely on the glue.
My written post on how to repair a scalp wound using hair is here.
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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
We’re finally to the finale. This is the third video of my three-part series on how to treat a cut.
When you have no other recourse, almost any way to keep the edges of a cut together will suffice. Your body will do the rest. Duct taping a cut together requires the skin around the wound to be dry. Even a little oozing of blood may cause the tape to not stick. Other than that, taping a cut is easy.
To treat a cut, first follow the steps in my previous videos, parts one and two. Then:
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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
Everyone wants to get that cut closed ASAP. But hey, hold on there just a minute, Bub. First, you’ve got to stop the bleeding.
Next you’re going to need to clean, clean, clean. After the wound is closed, leftover bacteria are going to just love that warm, moist enclosed space. They can hide and multiply like crazy. And foreign bodies like visual dirt and debris? Don’t get me started. Next thing you know you’ve got a nasty wound infection with pus and redness and fever and worse. Dare I say abscess?
Sure, our immune system is great. It fights off those bacteria like crazy. But give it a fighting chance. Clean that wound. Then the our antibodies and white blood cells can mop up what’s left. (And there are almost always a few bacteria left).
In this second video of my three-part series on how to threat a cut, my daughter/assistant and I brave the wild (kidding) to demonstrate tips on how to tell if you’ve cut a tendon, severed an artery, or damaged a nerve.
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by James Hubbard, M.D., M.P.H.
This is the first video in my three-part series on how to treat a cut. Okay, pay attention to me, not my beautiful daughter/assistant. In this one I tell how to stop most any cut from bleeding by applying direct pressure on the wound. I also tell where to apply pressure if you suspect an artery or vein is doing most of the bleeding.
If you’re a visual learner, this video’s for you.
In addition, the video covers the importance of protecting yourself
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