Should Ginette have stitches?

One fine Saturday morning when Ginette was gardening, she wanted to cut a plastic pot with an "Exacto" so that it could fit into a cache-pot. Doing so, she went straight and the blade cut her left forearm. “AYOYE”!

Panicked, she saw the gash in her skin and the blood beginning to flow. At the sight of this open wound, she felt weak and began to feel that she was going to lose consciousness. Quickly, she lay on the ground to avoid falling and applied pressure to the wound while keeping her arm in the air. She shouted to her husband to bring her the first aid kit, which he did on the spot. Opening the sterile gauzes, her husband asked her: "Do you think you are ok or should we go to see a doctor to put stitches on you"?

As a good first aider, when are you going to advise him to use stitches?

When a cut is more than a centimeter long or deep, you will suggest that he consult to stitch up the skin. This will allow the wound to heal better and faster while leaving only a small scar. If it is smaller, it is usually not necessary to have one. You can, however, use bridging strips from a kit to help the sides of the wound come together more easily. Thus, you will avoid being too marked by this unfortunate injury.

Steve Marcoux, MBA

emergency care instructor

SM Canada