What are the first aid steps to treat a laceration?

What are the steps? What treatments are effective? How can you tell if it is bad?

1. Elevation: elevating the laceration will let gravity help stop the blood flow
2. Compression: this further slows the blood flow and helps the bodies own clotting mechanisms.
3. Pressure points : putting pressure on an artey over body part such as the femoral area will help slow the bleeding further aiding in stopping the blood flow.
4. Tourniquet: last and definitly least is the tourniquet this completely stops the blood flow. This is a step of last resort and essentially you are deciding we will sacrifice the limb in order to save a life

Stopping the bleeding is first, apply firm pressure until the bleeding stops. Clean the wound and apply a dressing. Watch for signs of infection, redness, swelling, pus, increased pain. If the skin doesn't form a natural closure it is bad and may need sutures. If the bleeding wont stop it may need sutures. If there is a chance of debris in the wound it is bad and should be x-rayed.