Your patient is a 12-year-old boy who ran his arm through a glass window and has an 8-inch laceration on his anterior forearm. You have applied a pressure dressing and bandage, but these have become saturated due to continued bleeding. Which of the following should you do now?

Question

A) Elevate that arm and prepare to apply a tourniquet or consider administering a hemostatic agent.
B) Apply additional dressing material, bandage it in place, and apply pressure to the brachial artery.
C) Remove the pressure dressing and bandage, apply an ice pack to the wound, and bandage it in place with an elastic bandage.
D) Remove the pressure dressing and bandage, apply direct pressure with your gloved hand, and elevate the arm.

Answer 1

A