How to Estimate Blood Loss

Estimating blood loss is a practical skill to have in an emergency situation. The body needs several pints to function but can afford to lose several before it becomes dangerous. Knowing how to quickly estimate how much blood a person has lost can end up saving a life.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for any collections of blood around the body. If there is a bedpan or a similar device that may have collected the blood, look at it immediately. If there is not, look at the clothing and how much it is soaked. Also look at how far the blood has spread.

• 2

  Observe the collected blood further and make a guess as to how much blood would have to be lost to fill the pan to the level where you are currently looking.

• 3

  Make an estimate by using an eyeball guess if there are no collections of blood. Look at the clothes or the mattress and imagine how much blood must be lost to leave this much of a trail. Imagine if all the blood were in a pint milk carton. Determine whether a pint of blood has been lost by determining whether the blood lying there would fill the carton.

• 4

  Inspect the patient for physical symptoms of blood loss. If a patient has lost a dangerous amount of blood, he will begin to deteriorate physically. Look for loss of color or temperature, especially a clammy feeling. A lower pulse is also a sign of blood loss.

• 5

  Practice with fake blood. Take a unit of fake blood or something with the same consistency and pour it across a dummy. Do the same to two, three and more units of blood. Seeing how it looks will give you a basis to estimate when a time comes when you have to do it in real life.