A broken leg can occur during an injury where blunt force is applied to the lower limbs. The condition requires immediate medical attention, but first aid can help the victim achieve a faster recovery and maintain stability until professional medical help can be obtained. Splinting a fracture, or break, of a bone in the leg can be challenging, but it will help keep the victim's bone in place so that it can be more easily fixed by a medical professional. Before beginning the splinting process, call for medical help, if possible.
Instructions
1. Remove or loosen tight-fitting clothing that could interfere with circulation in the injured limb.
Once clothing is removed or loosened, inspect the skin for wounds. If wounds are noted, dress wounds with bandages and medical tape (if available) or clothing strips to control bleeding. Use pressure that is enough to halt blood loss, but still keep blood flowing throughout the leg.
If bone is protruding through the skin of the fractured leg, do not attempt to push it back into place; Simply cover the wound by dressing it as you would any other wound.
2. Begin to splint the leg in the same position you've found it. Do not try to reposition the leg.
Use two boards, sticks or branches that are approximately the same length as the injured leg and position them on either side of the injured leg. The boards or sticks, when secured, should completely immobilize the victim's leg.
3. Apply padding between the splints (boards/sticks) and the victim's leg. This measure assures comfort to the victim, but is not critical to the splinting procedure. A down coat or sweatshirt works well to pad this area. If padding is not available, move on to Step 4.
4. Secure the boards or sticks and padding using cravats (large triangular bandages), if available. If cravats are unavailable, long strips of clothing can be used.
Tie the cravats or clothing strips in at least two areas, on the top of the leg just above the knee (or higher if the fracture is in the thigh) and at least one below the knee. Tie them so that the boards or sticks are secured to the leg. The ties should be snug, but not tight enough to restrict blood flow. If the victim complains of numbness or tingling in the affected leg, try to loosen the ties slightly, as they may be too tight.
5. Stay with the victim until emergency help arrives to the scene. Monitor the victim's blood flow periodically by pressing on his big toenails gently. If color is restored to the uninjured limb's toenail before the injured limb's toenail, blood flow to the injured leg may be hampered. Loosen the ties slightly if this occurs. If blood flow is not restored upon loosening the ties, it may be caused by the bone fracture. Inform emergency personnel of this upon their arrival.
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