Introduction
“Only by understanding how the world around us works, can we understand our bodies and live well in and with nature and among others.”
Julia H Sun
Any kind of ventures led in the Great Outdoors surely involve risks at different levels.
They can be either physical either psychological.
Or even the match of two of them. This is what we can define “the worst case scenario“.
Among all, Survivalists are probably the most aware of them.
In fact, the most common injures experienced when offgrid happen to be cutes, along with bites and abrasions.
The major part of wounds are intrinsecally connected to the employment of cutting tools.
Knives (either fixed blade oeither foldable), but also axes, saws, hatchets are the main reason behind hemorrhages.
“Use it or lose it“, they say. Well, by that we use them and we inevitably hurt oursevelves. It can happen even to the most experienced mountain men.
What really makes the difference is the the severity of the wound itself.
If it is massively bleeding, in fact, this means we need immediate care.
If a situation like this may occurr when we are alone, we must tae care of our injury in the best, cleverest and fastest manner as possible.
Keeping total control on the whole situation is far from being an easy task to accomplish.
Most of the times shock and panic easily takes over.
Undoubtedly this is amplified when we don’t have the right gear inside our Medi-kit?
Or, again, if we don’t have our Medi-Kit with us?
In this article we will learn how to face a possible “Stop the bleed” scenario by taking advantage of some items we can grab in the woods.
If we know where to look for, we could fix the situation with the minimum effort.
Improvisation is always the worst enemy
“We celebrate our ability to create machines that move as man, yet we take for granted the miracle that is the human body.”
David Alejandro Fearnhead
Settling a proper Medi-kit is our first task.
In order to do it in the right way you are required to:
- have attended to some First Aid Courses
- have attended to some Wilderness Medicine Courses
- have been paired by a professional to check your Medi-Kit and increase it along the way
- master perfect knowledge of each single piece inside your Medi-Kit
- maintain in the proper way and periodically check the good status of your Medi-Kit
In the unfortunate case of a very severe wound, it goes without saying that you need to treat the bleeding injury by stopping the bleed.
This is something you can read quite everywhere on the web, but only the proper knowledge will guide you in the right way.
This article provides you only the main guidelines, specifically when you don’t have the right gear with you.
For this reason let me warmly recommend you to look for specific courses.
What to do in case of severe bleeding
Generally speaking, you should always follow the mantra “first things first“.
In first istance, the wound must be cleaned with clean water and soap (or disinfectant).
In order to stop the bleed, you need to applicate precise and direct pressure on the bleeding spot. Avoid to touch it with bare hands.
Thee potential presence of dirt and bacteria wich are present on your hands could be lethal.
A direct and constant pressure may be activated by using a clean freezer bag.
This is recommended inside the manual “BUSHCRAFT: First Aid” by Dave Canterbury and Jason A.Hunt.
The further step is to create a dressing by ensuring it with some Gorilla Tape.
In case of a severe injury to arms or legs, your first choice must be to the tourniquet.
But – legit question! – are you sure to be able to apply it in the right manner?
If you find yourself without a tourniquet, are you able of improvising one which responds to the prerogatives of being safe and effective?
If the answer is simply “no”, well… say no to improvisation. It’s about your safety.
Taking part to some classes, constantly refreshing your First Aid/Wilderness Medicine skill, maybe throughout the aid of your family members, is always a good way to go.
Nonetheless, the worst scenarios may happen even in your backwoods.
And in case you don’t have the right tools with you, Nature offers herself to become your drugstore. In fact, Nature can provide you some good, natural elements to treat your bleeding in the fastest and most natural way.
It is time to discover what we can actually employ in an emergency situation.
Benefits of Plants ID
“Once we knit biology to the canvas of consciousness, things get enough complicated already. Let alone culture, science and other conditionings layered on top of them.”
Saroj Aryal
Any Prepper should be extremely aware of how many benefits any individual may get from mastering an extensive knowledge in Plant Identification.
This is sheer virtue especially when it comes to identify medical plants as well as edible plants.
Some plants, in fact, can accomplish multiple and very notable tasks simultaneously.
One above all, walnut tree, as we will soon discover.
Learn how to stop a bleeding with plants
“We’ve lulled ourselves into believing that in an emergency, someone else will always come along to rescue us“
Chris McDougall
Tannins
As a matter of fact, any plant which has tannins can be successfully mployed in order to stop a bleeding.
From this perspective, these plants can be also used as “vulnerary”.
In fact, they are good for healing wounds in a reasonable amount of time, especially if the wound herself does not happen to be too much severe.
Trees like Poplar (Populus), Oak (Quercus) and Walnut (Juglans regia) happen to contain a huge amounr of tannins.
Tannins, also called tannoids consist of a class of polyphenolic biomolecules which are astringent. They can precipitate proteins and also other organic compounds, like amino acids and alkaloids.
Additionally, due to the capacity of being astringent, tannins are a great aid to clots.
It is also proved that another substance which has tannins like, for example, green tea “[…] contributes to significant decline in bleeding of the socket caused by tooth extraction as well as reduction of oozing […]” (“Evaluation of the Effect of Green Tea Extract on the Prevention of Gingival Bleeding after Posterior Mandibular Teeth Extraction: A Randomized Controlled Trial“, Soltani and other Authors, 2014).
By getting tannins out from oak, walnut and poplar trees you will have the chance to get some natural remedy which can cause the blood to clot because of their hemostatic effect.
In fact, as mentioned above, tannins are high in astringent.
In this specific way they cause blood vessels to constrict. Additionally, they are also antiseptic, by killing bacteria. If you apply them on your previously cleaned wound, you will lower the risk of infection.
You can employ some clean gauze to soak into tannins and apply them on the wounds.
If you have some green tea bags, you have the opportunity to use them as well.
Getting a warm tea is not only good for your morale, but it can also provided some bags which are still good to use (mild!) on your direct skin.
Powder and Poultice
The powder you can gain from Black Walnut (Juglans nigra), as well as the poultice you can make out of White Oak (Quercus alba) bark have been used since long time to treat bleeding wounds.
Native Americans, for example, made an extensive use of it which has been successfully handed down till nowadays.
“[…] The German Commissioner has approved it for treating diarrhea. It has also been listed on the U.S. Pharmacopoeia since 1916 for its astringent and antiseptic qualities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designates oak bark as GRAS, or generally recognized as safe […]”
(taken from Very Well Health)
You can shred some Black Walnuts and get a powder out it, which should be completely cleaned out of any maggots. You can both get a tincture or a powder (if you let them dry out).
You can store the powder inside a freezer bag, which should be entirely cleaned.
The poultice made out of White Oak bark has indeed the very same benefits. If you process it in the right way, you will be sure to get some very valuable benefits out of it.
The first step is drying the bark. This is good either for immediate use or for a later one.
But be careful when placing the bark in a well shaded spot! Avoid to overlap the single parts, in order to get an entire and proper dryness.
Put it inside a non-aluminum pot for at least twenty minutes, using just one cup of water.
Wait to cool down and submerge a gauze into it.
You can also drink it in order to treat:
- mucus
- sore throats, and mucus
- insomnia
- chronic diarrhea
In addition to that, it is good against vaginitis. You can actually use a tea brewed soaked gauzed very delicately on the hurtful part.
It is highly recommended by all the experienced herbalists all over the world not to abuse.
Nature provides us all the necessary elements and tools to fix an emergency situation and quite any potential deadly medical conditions, as Indigenous populations taught us all over the centuries.
About The Author
Article by Kyt Lyn Walken. Official Representative and Instructor for Hull’s Tracking School and Certified Conservation Ranger for the NGO Conservation Rangers Operations Worldwide. Kyt will be in the UK running a workshop 3rd – 4th September, 2022 in Telford, Shropshire – “The Art of Tracking Class” with FERAL YAMYAM BUSHCRAFT School.
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