Introduction: First aid is a moral and legal duty of every resident. Care must be holistic. It is necessary to attend to both the physiological and psychological needs of the injured person. Blood is a vital fluid for each of us. Bleeding that is not stopped on time is one of the leading causes of death outside of the hospital. One of the important measures in stopping severe bleeding from the extremities is also the timely and correct placement of a tourniquet. Purpose: To find out in which injuries a tourniquet should be used and in which cases it is not necessary, as well as the proper procedure for applying a tourniquet in first aid. Methods: We used a descriptive working method. The paper contains a review of the literature. The selected literature is in Slovenian and English. Resources were obtained from DiKUL portal, PubMed, ScienceDirect, CINAHL and Cochrane Library databases. For searching the Slovenian literature, we used COBISS+. Results: A layperson must install a tourniquet when they are not capable to stop the bleeding by applying direct pressure to the wound or when multiple bleeds are present at the same time. A tourniquet should be placed above the wound, avoiding placement over the limb joint. It must be fixed in place by the laity, and the lever must exert such severe pressure as to stop the bleeding. A tourniquet must not be covered. The time of placement needs to be written. After successful cessation of bleeding, they must provide appropriate medical assistance as soon as possible. Discussion and Conclusion: Every layperson must know how to recognize external bleeding and stop it immediately, as it can lead to shock or even death. Bleeding from wounds on the extremities is one of the most common causes of preventable death in civilian settings. The use of a tourniquet in mass casualty incidents is one of the key factors in stopping bleeding on time and survival. Everyone should know how to stop severe bleeding and get professional medical help as soon as possible. They should be able to take care of their safety and the safety of others. However, the dilemma remains whether an untrained layperson can recognize when it is necessary to put the survival of the injured before the survival of the limb.
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