Bleeding or hemorrhage is a condition of loss of blood that may occur either internally or externally. Inside the body, bleeding takes place when there is rapture of vessels or body organs. On the other hand, hemorrhage is said to occur when there is flow of blood through trauma or natural openings such as vagina, mouth or anus. At the same time, hemorrhage can take place outside the body when the skin is injured or bruised. In case of severe internal bleeding, it is always advisable for one to seek emergency medical help.
This is because severe bleeding, especially when it is internal, can be life threatening if timely medical intervention is not sought. It is also important to note that heavy bleeding does not necessarily result from serious injuries for relatively minor injuries may be accompanied by a lot of bleeding. Blood thinning medication and bleeding disorders such as hemophilia are the main causes of severe bleeding from moderate to minor injuries.
First aid can be a very useful intervention before victims of severe bleeding accesses professional medication. The first aid involves application of direct pressure to stop external bleeding when it is caused by skin injury. To avoid possible infection, the first aid givers should wash their hands and use protective latex gloves. The protective hand gloves must be in every first aid kit to avoid infections such as viral hepatitis, tetanus and HIV.
Internal bleeding results from abdominal or chest wounds and in severe cases, it may result into shock. During the first aid for internal bleeding, organs showing through the wound should not be forced back. Instead, the exposed organs and injuries should be covered with moistened bandage of cloth. Only gentle pressure should be applied to prevent blood loss, collection of blood under the skin and possible swelling.
External and internal bleeding can result from injuries. However, spontaneous bleeding can also occur as a result of joint problems. The most obvious symptoms for external bleeding are blood coming from an open wound and bruising. The incidental shock is attributed to symptoms such as confusion, dizziness, general body weakness, low blood pressure, skin paleness and shortness of breath.
For internal bleeding, the symptoms include but not limited to chest pain, organ swelling and abdominal pain. Other symptoms such as blood stained stool, blood in vomit, virginal bleeding and blood stained urine are direct indicators of internal bleeding. A change in skin color to black, purple, green or yellowish or blue may occur after several days of internal bleeding.
Incident with hemorrhage
In Saudi Arabia a car accident is one of the major causes of death. I have a firsthand experience with hemorrhage. One of my relatives had a car accident and got head trauma. Hisham a 17 years old boy went out with his friends, and while the driving very fast the car had a front tire burst. So they crashed into the lighting column. The witnesses further narrated how Hisham immediately went out of the car and helped his friends, but in a few minutes he fell down, and they call the ambulance.
At the emergency room, doctors ruled out that my cousin had suffered serious head and neck injuries. The presence of blood from his nostrils and mouth was a suggestion that he could have suffered internal head injuries, thus hemorrhage. When he was taken to the Ct-Sacn, the doctors were quick discovered that he has no skull fracture, but there was suffered subarachnoid hemorrhage; a condition that they said was responsible for his unconscious state. So he needs an urgent surgery to take the blood out before its effect the brain tissue. However, in local hospital there were no good neurosurgeons, so they should send him to a big hospital where he could find more care.
After few days he got accepted in one hospital and slightly bigger then our hospital. However, when he went there the neurosurgeon said he could not do surgery on him because it is too much time had passed, so we will give some medicines and we will do a good care for him. In the Intensive care unit where he was admitted I would visit three times every day, but what I got were only reports as I was rarely allowed to enter. The medics administered to him some medications to help stop the hemorrhage as well as to suppress the pain that accompanies the condition.
Doctors told us that the slow pace of recovery was because of the significant brain tissue damage that he suffered from the bleeding. After four months in hospital, the doctors assessed him and declared him fit to go home, and suggest physiotherapy for few months until he got improvement.
Now after six years from that accident every time I saw him his condition was worse than before, he improved some, but he could not continued the physiotherapy. So now he cannot assist himself for basic needs.