Direct Pressure to Stop Bleeding

A wound that is deep, bleeding heavily, or has blood spurting from it (caused by bleeding from an artery), may not clot and may not stop bleeding.

Immediate care
Call out for someone to get help, or call 911 yourself. Elevate the wound and apply direct pressure.

How to Stop a Nosebleed

How to Make a Sling

How to Splint a Fracture

Heimlich Maneuver on an Adult

Heimlich Maneuver on a Child

Heimlich Maneuver on an Infant

For too many women, joyfully anticipated pregnancy and motherhood bring depression as an unexpected accompaniment. Children as well as mothers suffer. Depression during pregnancy may result in poor prenatal care, premature delivery, low birth weight, and, just possibly, depression in the child. Depression after childbirth (postpartum depression) can lead to child neglect, family breakdown, and suicide. A depressed mother may fail to bond emotionally with her newborn, raising the child's risk of later cognitive delays and emotional and behavior problems. Fortunately, if the depression is detected soon enough, help is available for mother and child.

Depression During Pregnancy

Depression in pregnant women is often overlooked, partly because of a widespread misconception that pregnancy somehow provides protection against mood disorders. In reality, almost 25% of cases of postpartum depression in womem start during pregnancy, and depression may peak at that time, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Although hard-to-read heart attacks happen to both men and women, they are more common in women. One reason for this is that men's symptoms initially set the standard for recognizing heart trouble. Now a growing body of research shows that women can experience heart attacks differently than men.

Understanding sex differences in heart disease is important. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women. Although it mostly affects older women, it isn't rare in younger women. One in 10 of all women who die from heart disease or a stroke are under age 65, and this age group accounts for one-third of heart- or stroke-related hospitalizations. Even so, younger women and their doctors don't necessarily suspect a heart attack even when all the signs are there.

New Guidelines for Managing Women with Abnormal Pap Smears

Each year 3.5 million women have some degree of abnormality on their Pap smear — the test most commonly used to screen for cervical cancer — and require additional attention. But until 2001 there were no national guidelines on the best way for clinicians to treat these women.

The American Society of Colposcopy and Cervical Pathology brought together experts in cervical cancer prevention to develop comprehensive specifications. The guidelines they created could make things easier for women who have inconclusive Pap smear results.