Pulling a Blade Out of a Stab Wound Causes Uncontrolled Bleeding
Every instinct screams to pull the object out. Don’t. Whatever is embedded in a stab wound – a knife, a piece of glass, a metal rod – is physically compressing the damaged blood vessels around it. The moment you remove it, those vessels open up and bleeding becomes uncontrolled. Emergency medicine calls this tamponade, and the blade is performing it for you. Your job is to call 911 immediately, keep the victim as still as possible, and stabilize the object with bulky dressing around its base so it can’t shift. Do not wiggle it, do not shorten it, do not remove it. The trauma surgeon will handle extraction in a controlled environment where they can clamp vessels the second the object comes out.