“Bleeding wound? Relax and roll a cigarette.”

Cigarettes have become less popular for use by doctors on the job, but they still serve, on occasion, as inspiration. Here is one cigarette-inspired idea:

“Bleeding wound? Relax and roll a cigarette,” Stuart G. Williams and Cara Connolly, Injury Extra, epub April 30, 2014. The authors, at Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, Scotland and Springfield Hospital, Essex, England, report:

“A profusely bleeding wound may cause distraction and alarm. A technique that can provide fast and effective haemostasis allows the clinician to continue their assessment. We present a novel technique where gauze swabs are rolled into cigarette shapes and control bleeding by mimicking digital pressure to the wound. We have found this technique to be effective in clinical practice and present 3 cases where it was effectively used.”

Here’s detail from the study: