A dangerous aspect of venous bleeding, along with the significant volume of blood lost, is that vein wounds, especially cervical ones, can cause air to be sucked into the vessels through the wound injuries. Air that has entered the vessel can then enter the heart as well. In such cases a fatal condition occurs – air embolism.
Venous bleeding is best stopped by applying a pressure dressing. Clean gauze should be put on the bleeding area with an untwisted bandage or gauze folded several times on top of it, in extreme cases – a folded clean handkerchief. Applied in this way, the means act as a pressure factor, which presses the gaping ends of the damaged vessels. When the bandage is pressed against the wound, the vascular lumen is compressed and the bleeding stops.
If the caregiver does not have a pressure bandage handy and the victim is bleeding heavily from the injured vein, the bleeding area should be immediately pressed with the fingers. When bleeding from an upper extremity vein, in some cases simply lifting the arm upward is sufficient. In both cases a pressure dressing should then be applied to the wound.
The most convenient for this purpose is a pocket pressure dressing, an individual pack, which is sold in pharmacies.
