A 28-year-old female has sudden vaginal bleeding and a recent spontaneous abortion. What should you do first in the field?

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The key idea here is to control vaginal bleeding quickly while preparing the patient for transport. The first step is to place a clean trauma pad over the vagina. This serves to absorb blood, protect the area from contamination, and give you a way to monitor how much bleeding is occurring without inserting anything into the vagina or applying risky maneuvers.

Abdominal pressure isn’t appropriate in this situation because pressing on the abdomen can worsen bleeding or cause additional injury and isn’t a standard first-aid move for vaginal bleeding after a spontaneous abortion. Sitting idle and not addressing the bleed isn’t acceptable when you have a patient actively bleeding. Transporting without any intervening step would miss an immediate measure to manage blood loss and keep the scene and patient safer en route.