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Emergency Medicine & First Aid vocabulary · Bleeding and Wounds

Dressing

Meaning in emergency medicine & first aid, with examples

/ˈdresɪŋ/nounCore term

In emergency medicine & first aid, dressing means: A sterile pad or covering placed directly on a wound to protect it, absorb blood and help it heal.

In Turkish: yara örtüsü, pansuman malzemesi, pansuman

How it is used

A dressing goes on the wound; a bandage holds it in place or adds pressure. You apply, change or remove a dressing. Kits contain sterile dressings, non-adherent dressings for burns and hemostatic dressings that help blood clot.

Example sentences

  1. Put a clean dressing on it and I'll bandage over the top.

  2. Blood was coming through the first dressing, so we added a second.

Common collocations

  • sterile dressing
  • apply a dressing
  • change a dressing
  • non-adherent dressing
  • hemostatic dressing
  • bandageA strip of cloth or elastic material wrapped around part of the body to hold a dressing in place, give support or apply pressure.
  • woundAn injury where the skin or other tissue is cut, torn, pierced or broken, for example by a knife, glass, a fall or a bite.
  • direct pressureFirm pressure pressed straight onto a bleeding wound, by hand or with a dressing, to slow or stop external bleeding.
  • burnDamage to the skin and the tissue under it caused by heat, flames, hot liquids, chemicals, electricity or radiation.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Bleeding and Wounds

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.