How to Tie an Ace Bandage

The Ace brand elasticated bandages are staple items in any first aid kit. They have a wide variety of uses such as improving blood flow, reducing swelling, holding splints or ice packs in place and stiffening joints while they heal. They are usually attached with clips or Velcro, but they can also be tied into themselves. It makes a weaker connection than the standard method, but it can work.

Things You'll Need

• Ace bandage
• Sterile gauze, optional
• Ice or heat pack, optional
• Splint, stick or small plank, optional
• Included clips, optional

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Instructions

• 1

  Examine the problem area. If the injury is bleeding or oozing, apply gauze to the area before you continue. If the area is broken or fractured, place the splint on or near the injury. If the area seems swollen, aches or requires an ice or heat pack, apply that to the area.

• 2

  Unroll a few inches from the end of the Ace bandage. Place it on the patient's body near the area.

• 3

  Wrap the bandage around the limb. Cover the area and a few inches above and below it with the Ace wrap. If you have gauze, an ice pack or a splint on the area, make sure you cover them completely (or as much as possible, if the splint is too long) with the bandage. If you are wrapping around a joint and are not using any gauze, ice packs or splints, wrap above and below the joint, but leave some of the skin over the joint exposed. For example, if wrapping around the patient's ankle, wrap it above the ankle, then around the arch of the foot and alternate between the two areas but leave the heel exposed. This stiffens the joint, but still leaves the patient able to move it, which allows it to heal.

• 4

  Unroll the entire bandage. When you reach the end, use the connector clips or Velcro to attach the bandage to itself, which ties it down and keeps it in place. If you do not have either connector, tuck the end of the bandage into one of the lower layers of the bandage.