|
|
STITCHING WOUNDS
|
This page is intended for situations where someone has sustained a clean cut which needs stitching or has difficulty eating or breathing because of a wound.
First clean the wound thoroughly. then stitch across it, or use butterfly sutures which can be applied without any special skills. Some tribes use Fire Ants as sutures, holding them against the wound so they bite across it, then snapping off the head so the mandibles hold the wound together like modern aurgical steel stitches.
|
Haemostat
This is a Haemostat, like a pair of lockable pliers. It can be clamped on a blood vessel, stopping blood flow to make it easier to tie off. AVOID clipping nerves!
Haemostats have many uses and are worth including in your medical kit. Ideal for holding needles while sewing; even tough leather can be stitched.
|
|
Stitches
With a sterilized needle and thread or gut, make each stitch individually, beginning across the midpoint of the wound. Draw the edges together and tie off thread, then continue to work outwards.
|
|
Adhesive sutures
Use butterfly sutures or cut adhesive plasters in butterfly shape. Draw wound edges together. Apply plaster to one side of wound, close up as much as possible and press down other side of plaster.
|
|
Click here to return to Medical Kit
Go Top for other selections.
|
|
