Arterial
With this type of bleeding, the blood is typically bright red to yellowish in colour, due to the high degree of oxygenation. A wound to a major artery could result in blood ‘spurting’ in time with the heartbeat, several meters and the blood volume will rapidly reduce.
Venous
This blood is flowing from a damaged vein. As a result, it is blackish in colour (due to the lack of oxygen it transports) and flows in a steady manner. Caution is still indicated: while the blood loss may not be arterial, it can still be quite substantial, and can occur with surprising speed without intervention.
Capillary
Bleeding from capillaries occurs in all wounds. Although the flow may appear fast at first, blood loss is usually slight and is easily controlled. Bleeding from a capillary could be described as a ‘trickle’ of blood.
The key first aid treatment for all of these types of bleeding is direct pressure over the wound.
Tourniquet should only be use as the last result, Loss of life due to bleeding outweighs loss of limb due to complications withtourniquet use.
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