When would you not loosen clothing?

• A. In a chemical environment, or the clothing is stuck to the wound
• B. In a cold environment
• C. If the casualty is conscious
• D. After applying a tourniquet

Answer: (A)

Not loosening clothing is about avoiding cause-and-effect harm in two risky situations. If clothing is stuck to a wound, pulling it away can tear tissue, reopen a clot, and restart or worsen bleeding, so you leave the fabric in place and focus on stabilizing the wound with direct pressure and bandaging around it. In a chemical environment, removing clothing can spread contaminants to skin or to responders and interfere with proper decontamination, so the garment should be left in place until safe decontamination is possible. In other cases, loosening clothing helps with assessment and comfort, but these two scenarios are where the risk of making things worse is real, which is why you wouldn’t loosen clothing.