A trauma dressing is a bandage used to treat open wounds by covering them in order to help keep out foreign objects and contaminants such as dirt and debris. They also are used to help stop bleeding, to help stabilize impaled objects and to prevent pneumothorax, a life-threatening condition, from developing. Pneumothorax is the medical term for the presence of atmospheric air inside the chest cavity. There are many types of dressing; each one is used for a specific purpose in cases of a specific type of trauma.
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics almost always apply a special trauma dressing known as an occlusive dressing to patients suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, a deep laceration or a puncture or perforation to the neck. These trauma bandages are made of a thick plastic or are petroleum-gel-impregnated gauze. Aluminum foil also has been used successfully in the absence of occlusive dressings to form an airtight seal over a wound.
There is a very delicate balance of pressure in the chest cavity that, when disturbed by the entrance of outside air, can result in the collapse of a lung. The occlusive trauma dressing is used to make a flutter valve bandage. This allows outside air that has entered the chest to escape when the patient exhales and prevents outside air from entering when he or she inhales.
