A Triangle bandage is used to protect the wound and prevent it from any further infection, and also to allow healing. A triangular bandage is made from a meter square of a strong type of cloth cotton (usually muslin) or calico which has been cut into a right-angle triangle. The cloth has a cut diagonally and can be folded down into a “cravat.” This type of bandage can be used in numerous ways as a sling or to restrict the movement of broken bones and soft tissue injuries.
Dimension:
While buying one has to keep in mind it’s important to have the right angle triangular shaped bandage, otherwise, it will not going to function for many first aid functions. The standard size of a triangle bandage is 102x102x142 cm (40x40x56 inches), but in the folded condition it becomes quite small- just around 5 inches.
Medical Application of Triangle Bandage:
The triangular bandage is proven to be very useful because it can be fit almost any part of the body as it can be folded in a variety of ways.
- Sling: The most common use of this bandage is as a sling to support an upper-body injury.
- Arm Sling: This type of sling is used to support a lower arm or hand injury and for collarbone or rib fractures.
- Elevated Sling: To use this sling, the patient has to hold the hand or arm in an elevated position, where he is suffering from an arm and finger injury.
- Collar-and-cuff sling: This kind of sling is made with a narrow fold bandage used as a clove hitch. In this case, the lower arm and hand must be placed an elevated position where a full elevation sling is not required, or if the patient is not comfortable with the elevated sling.
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Splint for broken leg: With a broken and fractured leg, one has to immobilize the injured bones to prevent further injury. There are numerous ways of tying splint.
- The most common method is to tie both the branches to each side of the injured leg.
- To deal with field injuries, wrapping method is proven to be best. In this method, one has to roll up a sleeping pad or blanket and place it in between the legs and tie the splint. That helps to immobilize the leg without interrupting the blood circulation.
- Cravat: One has to bring the corner point of the triangular bandage to the middle of the base to make a cravat bandage. After applying a compress on the injured portion, the center of cravat is placed on the compress, and then have to tie the ends of it over the compress.
To control bleeding wounds of the scalp or forehead, eye, temple, cheek, and ear this type of cravat has proven to be useful. And of course, before using them on a bleeding wound, one has to make sure the triangular bandage is sterilized.
- Minor Burns: though with severe burns, the bandage is not a great solution as there is a chance that burned skin would get stuck that causes pain while removing. But a wet triangle bandage can work very well for minor hand burns. The wetness helps to prevent sticking to the wound from the bandage. You may apply to burn to keep extra moistures. And to protect the burn from getting dirty, the bandage should be kept loose.
Non-Medical Application of Triangle Bandage:
The use of triangle bandage isn’t limited to first aid. Here are some other use of it, you may think of;
- Face Mask: Though it isn’t as effective as an N95 mask, but will still protect from toxic exposure and hazardous chemicals.
- Water filtering element: Can be used as a pre-filtering element to filter out dirt, algae, and debris from untreated water.
- Fire catcher: Though all of the triangular bandage is not made up of cotton, But the one with 100% cotton fabric can catch fire easily whereas the one made up with synthetic elements does not burn well.
Triangle Bandage is a must-have for your first aid kit, and you need to have some basic knowledge and practice to be able to utilize this multi-essential. We at VMEDO have conducted over 200 first aid workshops and taught 5000+ people how to be emergency prepared. To learn this skill please click the link below