Its not a common thing, and i'm pleased to say I have all my digits intact, yet lol. I am thinking of going for an up to date CPR course, I was just so curious today, and it niggled me all day. I had to ask, otherwise I would have been up all night thinking about it.
Also, place pressure on the arm or more importantly the artery, above the top of the bicep and elevate the arm if possible.
It's not all about the finger!
I'm rather worried by the initial 'pack it in ice' advice. If you pack a severed finger directly in ice it will suffer tissue damage from 'frostbite'. You need to keep it cool but not actually frozen!
As a qualified first-aider who has actually encountered the problem (during my teaching days, when a colleague chopped off two of his fingers with a circular saw), I can tell you that (despite carefully packing the fingers in a Tupperware box) it's not always possible for a hospital to successfully reattach them.
I agree with the post of Buenchico........don't get too "wound up" over the first aid treatment of an amputated digit as the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome is extremely remote.
I'm with sqad on this 1, as i had a severed digit on a Sunday so they couldn't be arsed to re-attach it, lazy Plastics dept, Index l/hand top1/4.
would do it for a child but not an older adult.
Oooh who's answer was removed?? you all gave good advice, and I am now determined to take my first aid course again. Not the refresher one, but the full one.