How to Field Dress a Dislocated Shoulder

A dislocated shoulder occurs when your top arm bone pops out of the shoulder socket. This is fairly easy to do since the shoulder joint has a large range of motion and the joint is fairly unstable. This injury can cause bruising and muscle or tendon damage and should be attended to by medical personnel as soon as possible.

Instructions

• 1

  Check to see if the shoulder is dislocated or broken. A dislocated shoulder will cause pain when the joint is moved. The shoulder will also look deformed. It should be fairly obvious that the shoulder and arm bones are no longer connected.

• 2

  Make a sling. This can be done with a blanket, jacket, or even a belt. With the cloth, either create a triangle or strip of cloth and tie the end together. The sling should then go over the neck and the injured arm slipped through the open area of the sling. This will support the arm and limit movement.

• 3

  Make a cravat. A cravat goes around the upper arm and around the chest and is tied tightly so make the injured arm even more immobile. The more that you can do to ensure that the arm doesn't move a lot, the more you can lessen the damage to the shoulder. This will help with both muscle and tendon damage as well as bruising.

• 4

  When you are able, get ice for the dislocated shoulder. This will help minimize swelling and bruising.

• 5

  Get medical help immediately. Don't try to straighten or relocated the shoulder yourself unless you have the proper medical training. Trying to relocate the shoulder without training can cause more damage.