The short answer
Direct, firm, continuous pressure on the wound with anything clean, and keep it there. Elevate if you can. Do not keep lifting the dressing to look.
- Press firmly on the wound with a clean cloth, a dressing, or your hand if there is nothing else.
- Keep pressing. Continuously, for at least ten minutes, without lifting to check.
- Raise the injured part above the level of the heart if you can do so safely.
- If blood soaks through, add another layer on top. Do not remove the first.
- Call 999 for bleeding that will not stop, spurting blood, or anyone becoming pale, cold, clammy or confused.
What will ruin it
Do not use a tourniquet unless you have been trained and the bleeding is life-threatening and cannot be controlled any other way. Do not remove an embedded object, which may be the only thing holding the bleeding back: press around it instead.
Why it works
Bleeding stops when a clot forms, and a clot needs undisturbed pressure and time. Lifting the dressing to look breaks the clot that was forming and restarts the process.
This is general information, not medical advice, and it does not replace a GP, a pharmacist or NHS 111. Call 999 in an emergency. Full disclaimer.