How To Treat A Gunshot Wound Until Emergency Help Arrives

The United States is a world leader in gun violence, far surpassing other high income nations like Chile, Canada, and Portugal, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Guns are also now the leading cause of death in children, surpassing car accidents for the first time in 40 years. Given the sheer number of guns in the United States — 120 firearms for every 100 people, per the Small Arms Survey — there is a small but real chance of being a bystander to gun violence.

Bleeding out is the biggest concern after someone is shot. If a bullet hits an artery, a gunshot victim could bleed to death in just five minutes. Knowing how to staunch bleeding from a gunshot wound until emergency help arrives could save someone’s life.

RELATED: Gun Violence in America Is a Public Health Crisis

Programs like Stop the Bleed, a national public service campaign and training program run by the American College of Surgeons’ Committee on Trauma, teach people how to effectively respond in emergency scenarios where someone is severely bleeding.

Time is of the essence in the minutes immediately following a gunshot injury. Here are some ways you can be prepared to respond as a bystander before emergency medical assistance arrives.

Check the Scene Is Safe

First and foremost, assess your surroundings to see if you are safe to respond. Is there still active fire? Is the gunman gone? It’s critical to check in and think about whether you feel capable of responding under the circumstances.

Jeffrey Luk, MD, is the director of prehospital and disaster medicine at University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and an assistant professor of emergency medicine at Case Western University School of Medicine in Ohio. He says the first step to any emergency response is making sure to stay safe.

“You can't help anyone if you yourself are injured, right?” says Dr. Luk.

It’s perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed in a scenario where other people have been shot. But your actions as a bystander can give emergency medicine the best chance of helping a gunshot victim.

Erin Hall, MD, MPH, is the medical director of the MedStar Washington Hospital Center–Community Violence Intervention Program in Washington, DC, as well as a trauma surgery attending and critical care doctor. She’s also a Stop the Bleed instructor. Dr. Hall says you can remember the next steps as the ABCs of responding:

• Alert the authorities
• Bleeding — find the source
• Compression on the wound

Call 911

If someone else is nearby, tell them to call 911 and get emergency medical assistance on the way. If you know of a nearby Stop the Bleed kit, you could also direct someone to run and grab it for you. Some places have a kit containing gauze, gloves, and a tourniquet near CPR or defibrillator kits. These supplies could be helpful in responding, but you can still be an effective emergency responder without any medical supplies.