Well if the said person refuses to remove the garment (which is this case,) they don't have a choice in the matter without force or unconscious consent. But the rule of bleeding is once you put gauze down, you don't remove it for fear of tearing the injury open. Thus, I would think their policy would be moistening the bandages prior to removal, which would moisten the edges of any fabric that got coagulated.
Unsanitary and risky but these were less than cleanliness times. And they likely don't have many sets of clothing aboard, meaning tearing the whole leg or sleeve off would require mending aka another task aboard a ship with unlimited tasks. At least we don't have to ask how they avoid scurvy: Balca's fruit feast answered that one.
Thanks.
But sometimes they do it themselves. So it's not always about consent.
Why do they always bandage the wound on top of clothes? Won't the blood stick to the clothes when dried? (That gonna hurt)