How to Treat Cuts & Scrapes - First aid training

If your cut or scrape is bleeding for more than ten minutes or spurting, you're gonna want to call 911; you're gonna need some extra help with that. If the cut is more than one-fourth inch long or deep, you're gonna want to talk to your doctor or seek medical treatment; you may need stitches for that. So what do you do? Get the person away from any kind of danger; you're gonna want to clean the wound. Start by cleaning your own hands Whenever there is a break in the skin there is a risk for an infection so if your hands are clean you won't be spreading infection to this open wound. So you clean it with soap and water; if there's any kind of dirt, or grit, or particles, or pebbles, you're gonna want to get those out. Usually just with a wash cloth; rubbing with get it out. It doesn't feel that great but it will get all that stuff out. You don't want to leave it in there because that could lead to infection as well. If you have squeezers, you can wash them in alcohol and try to pluck all that stuff out. Once everything is clean and there's no more grit or dirt or sticks or anything like that you're gonna want to put some antibiotic ointment on there and you're gonna want to wanna cover it up with a bandage. If the bleeding soaks through, just put another pad or another piece of gauze or another clean cloth on top. Don't peek through and see what's going on; just keep it on top of there and hold it for a good 10 minutes. If the bleeding goes more than 10 minutes or starts to spurt, you need to call for help right away. You're gonna want to change the bandage once a day or whenever it gets wet or it gets dirty just to take sure that no infection, nothing can get in there to start an infection. If you haven't had a tetnus shot in a while or you're not sure when you've had your last tetnus shot, you're gonna want to talk to your doctor about getting a booster. Once the wound has been covered and you've been watching it everyday, if you see any signs of infection like ***, redness, swelling, or people getting the chills or fever or anything that's out of the ordinary you're gonna want to talk to your doctor and see what you can do about that.