If a knife, steel rod or glass is stuck in the body, press around the object to stop bleeding and do not pull it out
- High value
- Evidence B
- Buys life
- Free
- Takes minutes
- Some willpower
In a real emergency, call 911 first, then read this.
In plain words
Pulling it out can cause heavy bleeding, and also makes it harder for the doctor to tell how deep the injury is. What to do: call 120 (China's ambulance number), press around the object with your hand or a dressing to stop the bleeding, and pad around the object to keep it steady and stop it from moving. If organs are showing through a wound in the belly, don't push them back in; cover them with a clean, damp dressing. If a chest wound is bubbling, don't seal it tightly with plastic sheeting, because sealing it can collapse the lung.
- Cost
-
Free. The hard part is holding back the instinct to "pull it out first," and staying with the person until the ambulance arrives.
- What you get
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The 2025 international first aid guidelines of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: "the first aider should press around an object stuck in the body (such as a knife), hold the object steady, and not pull it out." "Do not remove any object stuck in a wound of the abdomen or chest. Pulling it out may cause heavy bleeding and also makes it harder for the doctor to judge how serious the injury is." "An object stuck in the body should be held steady; if the object moves with the pulse, let it move, and just hold it loosely." "The first aider should not push exposed organs back into the body." An open chest wound that is not gushing blood "may be left open without a dressing, because sealing the wound may let air collect in the chest and make the lung partly or fully collapse (pneumothorax)." For every penetrating wound of the chest or abdomen, call for emergency help at once
- Notes
-
Graded B because this is accepted practice in the guideline, with no randomized trial; you can't very well split the injured into a "pull it out" group and a "don't" group to test it. On reaching the hospital, go straight to the triage desk at the emergency entrance (the pre-examination triage desk), which sorts by urgency, and report a "penetrating injury"; don't queue at the registration window. Under Beijing's triage standard, heavy bleeding and severe pain can be placed at level 2, which means going into the resuscitation room (see ยง24.7 (the emergency pre-examination triage desk)). If it has really gone through, call 120; Beijing's plan requires ambulance doctors to notify the hospital ahead of time to prepare for level 1 and 2 patients. For how to press and how to apply a tourniquet for heavy bleeding, see ยง13.12.
- Evidence grade
- B : Supported by research but without a precise number, or based on small or single studies.
- Sources
-
- International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2025). International First Aid, Resuscitation and Education Guidelines 2025, pages 256โ257 and 267โ268. https://www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/IFRC%20International%20First%20Aid,%20Resuscitation%20and%20Education%20Guidelines%202025.pdf
This tip also appears in
Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 13, tip 40. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer