How to Treat an Open Chest Wound

Each of the body's lungs are surrounded by an airtight area in the chest. If this area is punctured and air is allowed to enter, the lung begins to collapse. This is referred to as a "open" or "sucking" chest wound. Unless treated, this wound will interfere with a patient's ability to breathe and receive enough oxygen. When applying first aid to these wounds, one should both try to prevent blood from escaping the wound and to provide a seal over this hole, which will allow the patient to breathe better.

Things You'll Need

• Field dressing
• Bandages

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Instructions

• 1

  Uncover the wound by removing all clothing around it. If the patient's clothing is stuck to the wound, do not remove it for fear of exacerbating the injury.

• 2

  Examine the wound and confirm whether the chest wound is indeed an open chest wound by examining it for signs and symptoms. Open chest wounds are characterized by sucking sounds coming from the chest; bloody froth; pain in the shoulders and chest that increases with breathing; the coughing up of blood; and the chest's failure to rise and fall as normal during breathing.

• 3

  If there is more than one open chest wound, triage them and treat the more serious wound first. The more serious wound is the wound that is bleeding more heavily.

• 4

  Apply an airtight material over the wound to facilitate the patient's breathing. The material could be the wrapping of a field dressing.

• 5

  Apply a field dressing to the wound, white side down. Ask the patient to breathe as normal while you wrap the tails of the dressing around his body and then tie them in a nonslip knot over the center of the dressing. Make sure to tie the knot after the patient has fully exhaled but before they have begun to inhale again.

• 6

  Secure the field dressing with bandages. The dressing has to be tight enough that the airtight material doesn't slip.

• 7

  If possible, apply direct pressure over the dressing for 5 to 10 minutes to help staunch the bleeding. Apply this material directly over the wound after the patient has finished exhaling completely. If the patient is able, have them hold onto the dressing.

• 8

  Position the patient so that he is lying with his injured side next to the ground. This will place more pressure on the injured side, much like a splint.

• 9

  If the patient's health declines (evidenced by additional difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, or a blue tinge to the skin) after the dressing has been placed, quickly remove the dressing and reapply it.

• 10

  Get the patient to a medical facility as quickly as possible.