For a victim with severe arterial bleeding from a limb that direct pressure cannot control, current bleeding-control guidance — popularized by the DHS-supported Stop the Bleed campaign — endorses:

Explanation

Post-2015 trauma data — much of it from combat experience and refined by the American College of Surgeons' Stop the Bleed campaign — re-established tourniquets as life-saving for severe limb hemorrhage that direct pressure cannot control. Apply 2-3 inches above the wound (not on a joint), tighten until bleeding stops, note the application time, and never remove until a hospital can manage hemorrhage control. Elevation alone (b) is insufficient for arterial bleeding; thermal manipulation (c) is harmful; doing nothing (d) costs lives — exsanguination can occur in 2-5 minutes.