▷ FIRST AID BANDAGES and DRESSING: What IS, MEANING and TYPES.

The function of bandages is to:

• Keep the healing material of a wound in place, thus preventing germs from reaching it.

• To stop bleeding from small vessels, by compressing the dressing placed on the wound.

• To support a part of the body, or to serve as a sling, or to restrict the movement of a joint or limb.

• To keep splints placed to immobilize a limb in place.

• To gently compress, preventing varicose veins in the lower extremities from filling with blood.

There are at least 4 types of bandages in first aid:

• Rolled bandage: Its length varies between 2 1/2 meters and 5 meters; its width, from 2 1/2 cm to 15 cm. It is advisable that bandages of 7 to 16 cm wide are at least 6 m long.

• T bandage: It receives this name because of its shape. It is generally made with 2 strips of cloth, 10 cm wide and 1 m long. It is used exclusively to hold dressings on the genital organs or the perineum.

• Abdominal sculteto: This bandage is made up of 5 flannel strips, about 8 to 10 cm wide and about 90 to 150 cm long. Each strip is superimposed on half of the next one, sewing them together in their middle part, approximately 1/4 of their length.

• Triangular, square or handkerchief bandage: consists of a square of cotton fabric (large handkerchief, old bedsheets, canvas, etc.) of variable size, depending on the intended use: 60, 90, 100 or 120 cm on each side. It is folded diagonally to form a triangle.

• Tie: is made with the triangular bandage by folding it several times.

The types of bandages in first aid are:

• Circular bandage: This is applicable to hold a dressing in a cylindrical region of the body. It simply consists of placing several turns of bandage, each one covering the previous one, on the part to be bandaged. This type of bandage is commonly applied to the forehead, neck and wrist.

• Oblique bandage: This consists of making oblique turns around the part to be bandaged, without the turns touching each other. It leaves areas without bandage. It is applied when you want to hold healing material without pressure.

• Spiral bandage: The turns of the bandage ascend in a spiral, in such a way that each turn covers part of the previous turn. It is applied to almost cylindrical parts, such as fingers, arm and trunk.

• Spiral bandage with inverses: This is mainly applied to conical parts of the body (legs, thigh and forearm), as it makes it more difficult for the bandage to loosen and move. It is a spiral bandage in which the bandage is turned upside down with each turn, so that its inner part becomes the outer part, and vice versa with the next turn.

• Crossed bandage or figure-of-8: this is done by crossing the bandage in the shape of an 8. It is mainly used to bandage joints. In the shoulder, the crossing is done on the extension side of the joint, while it is done on the flexion side in the elbow and knee.

• Spica or spike: this is the name given to a form of figure-of-8 or crossed bandage, because the turns of the bandage take the shape of the grains in an ear of wheat, which, crossing, form an angle to ascend (ascending spica) or descend (descending spica). It is usually applied to the groin, foot, thumb and shoulder.

• Recurrent bandage: this type of bandage is especially applied to the end of a finger or a limb that has had to be amputated. A loop of bandage is passed over the limb to be covered, going back to continue covering the area from different sides. It is finished with a few circular turns to keep the bandage firm.

Shoulder bandages can be made mainly with cotton in the armpit hollow, in order to avoid compression of the vessels.

A figure-eight bandage can also be made for the armpit and neck to go through these two places, starting with a circular arm bandage and then making increasingly higher figure-eight wraps that go through the other armpit crossing over the shoulder.

Another way is with the triangular bandage, with which you can make one or two folds at the base of the triangle, and make a circular arm bandage with the ends, with the vertex of the triangle pointing upwards.

Ankle bandages are commonly made using a rolled bandage, using the following procedure: start with a circular bandage around the foot and then, passing along the front of the ankle, secure it with a couple of circular turns on the lower part of the leg.

Then make figure-eight turns that cover the ankle well. Finish with a circular bandage on the foot, which is secured with adhesive tape.

Knee bandages begin by placing a spica with the knee slightly bent, which can be started in the middle, extending the turns further and further away or vice versa.

It can also be done with a tie, placing the middle part of the tie on the front and middle part of the knee, crossing the ends where the knee bends. Make turns in figure 8, each time further away, and tie.