Violence is the third leading cause of traumatic injury and death in our region. Natural disasters occur fairly routinely throughout the world. Accidents happen at home, school, and work. And sadly, in today’s society, we must also consider the possibility of a mass shooting event.
May is National Trauma Awareness Month. This May, the theme is supporting efforts to “Stop the Bleed,” a nationwide campaign designed to empower individuals to act quickly and save lives.
A person with serious bleeding from penetrating injury can die from blood loss within 5 minutes. No matter how rapid the arrival of EMS, bystanders will always be first on scene.
An initiative of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Hartford Consensus, “Stop the Bleed” promotes proper bleeding control techniques, including how to use direct pressure, dressings, and tourniquets.
Research has shown that bystanders, with little or no medical training, can become heroic lifesavers. Similar to the use of CPR or automatic defibrillators, improving public awareness about how to stop severe bleeding can be the difference between life and death for an injured person.
Deaconess Regional Trauma Center Medical Director, Dr. Matt Vassy, is teaming up with the Medical Directors from St. Vincent Evansville. They, along with their team members, will be providing this important training to various groups in our community. The training consists of approximately 20 minutes of PowerPoint training and 2 hands-on skill stations (which take about 10 minutes combined).
If you are interested in scheduling this life-saving training for a group or organization, please contact Lu Weil at 812-450-2961 or lu.weil@deaconess.com to schedule a date and time. There is no charge for this training but we do ask that there be a minimum of 12 participants.
We care about the citizens of our community and we hope to provide Stop the Bleed throughout the region so that others will be better prepared to handle a bleeding emergency and possibly save the life of a fellow citizen.
For more information, please visit www.bleedingcontrol.org.