Minor cuts protocol

This protocol is a protocol that needs training on- if you have not been trained in it and kept that training up to date, you're not doing it within queercare.

This protocol is a draft. It has not yet been accepted as protocol and may be incorrect or poorly cited. Please do not use this in your work until it has been accepted.

Please see #protocols on Slack to discuss this protocol further.

This protocol is part of first aid protocol and should not be used outside of the accident procedure

This protocol is a draft. It has not yet been accepted as protocol and may be incorrect or poorly cited. Please do not use this in your work until it has been accepted.

Please see #protocols on Slack to discuss this protocol further.

This is the protocol for dealing with minor cuts.

What is a minor cut?

You must call for backup, for example an ambulance If there is blood that is spurting or pouring, as if from a tap or a hosepipe, push down on it immediately as hard as is required to stop the blood flow. Call 999 immediatly

Cuts are minor if they:

• Don't penetrate arteries (there is no spurting or pouring blood - it may dribble)
• Don't have objects lodged in them, such as barbed wire or large pieces of glass - gravel or similar is fine
• Are small in number and size: cuts should not be deep (more than a couple of cm), long (more than 10cm) or many (more than 2-3 of the largest size above)

When to treat minor cuts

You should treat minor cuts:

• If the scene is safe
• If you have the tools and dressings to do so
• If you are confident that no more urgent injuries are nearby (items in DRAB, and if the cut is not bleeding profusely, CDE)

How to treat minor cuts

• You must put on appropriate PPE to protect yourself from blood - use gloves
• You must wash your hands and tools to ensure you are not about to contaminate your patient with a previous patients illnesses, or those from your surroundings
• You must clean the cut, removing any dirt or small embedded objects
  • If the cut is shallow, you can use saline wipes
  • If the cut is deep, you must use sterile saline or clean water, with pressure(from a large blunt syringe or an eye pod, or just flow from a tap.), optionally along with sterile gauze, to clean out any dirt in the wound.
• If the cut is deep, you should bring the edges of the skin together at the top, and fasten them with steri strips
  • Starting at one end, pinch the skin together as it would be without the cut, and place a steri strip holding the skin together 5mm to 1cm from the end of the cut. Switch to the other end, and repeat. Work from each end to the centre, like you're closing a zip.
• Place a dressing over the cut
  • For the smallest and most minor of cuts, use a plaster or adhesive dressing.
  • For small, thin cuts, use strip dressing along the length.
  • For larger cuts, use a non adherent dressing, secured and protected by a bandage.