How to suture up wounds if SHTF

An interesting thread from Glock Talk

Try to get the wound cleaned and closed as soon as possible after the bleeding has stopped. Apply direct pressure until the bleeding has stopped. This may take some time depending on how bad an injury it was.

Flush the wounds with sterile (boiled if possible) water until all visible dirt is out of the wound.

After the wound appears clean, disinfect it with either povidine iodine (betadine) or chlorhexadine gluconate (4%). You can get this from a veterinarian supply for pretty cheap. I prefer the chlorhexadine because it has less caustic effect on the tissues. To disinfect it, first put on sterile gloves if they are available. If not, scrub your hands (especially under the nails) with the betadine or chlorhexadine. If you don't have either of these available you can use hydrogen peroxide or rubbing alcohol as a last resort. Remember, after you have your gloves on, anything you touch must be sterile or you will contaminate yourself. That means you have to make a sterile field and lay out all of your equipment on it. If you do contaminate yourself, change gloves.

If you have some lidocaine 1% or 2% now would be a great time to use it otherwise this will HURT. If you have it available, Fill a 10 cc syringe with a ~21 to 23 gauge needle and inject it about 1 cc at a time into the wound margins and the deep tissue. Wait about 3-4 minutes and check to see if you have achieved local anesthesia by poking the area with the needle. If you don't have any lidocaine, you can use a benzocaine spray but this will BURN for a few minutes after you put it on before the tissue gets numb. The lidocaine syringe will most likely NOT be sterile, so be sure and change gloves after you administer it.

Then, pour a generous amount of your chosen disinfectant into the wound. Scrub the wound with the disinfectant and some sterile 4x4's. If it is deep, make sure that the disinfectant gets deep into the wound cavity. Now make a sterile field around the wound using sterile OR towels if you have them or you can use sterile 4x4 gauze. If you don't have anything available you can boil some towels (but let them cool off before you put them on the skin!) Let the disinfectant sit for about 3-4 minutes for betadine or at least a minute for chlorhexadine. Mop up any extra solution with some sterile 4x4 gauze until the tissue is reasonably dry (e.g. not sopping wet).

Now your wound is sterile and ready to be closed. (continued)