Dressings, and when a cut needs more than one

This range carries 64 first aid and body care items, and most of the questions about them come down to two things: which dressing suits which situation, and the point at which a dressing is the wrong answer entirely.

What the different types are for

• Transparent film dressings. Waterproof and see-through, so a wound can be watched without lifting the cover. Suited to shallow, clean, low-exudate areas.
• Fabric strips. Flexible over knuckles and fingertips, where a rigid strip lifts within the hour.
• Gauze and pads under a wrap. Used where there is more fluid than a thin strip can hold, or the area is too large for one.
• Cohesive elastic wrap. Sticks to itself rather than to skin or hair, so it holds a dressing in place rather than acting as one.

When a plaster is not the answer

These are the published thresholds, and they are worth knowing before rather than during. MedlinePlus, the consumer service of the US National Library of Medicine, says to call emergency services if bleeding is severe or has not stopped after ten minutes of pressure, if the person cannot feel the injured area, or if they are seriously injured otherwise.

Contact a health care provider promptly if:

• The wound is large or deep even when the bleeding is not severe, or is more than a quarter of an inch deep, on the face, or reaching bone. Stitches may be needed.
• A person or animal has bitten, or the injury came from a rusty object or a fishhook.
• An object or debris is stuck in the wound. It should not be pulled out.
• There are signs of infection: warmth, redness, throbbing, fever, swelling, a red streak leading away from the wound, or pus-like drainage.
• There has been no tetanus shot in the last ten years.