Rapid bleeding control improves survivability in isolated or mass casualty incidents (MCI), but most people don't know how to help or are afraid to make it worse. Military medicine has documented a reduction in extremity-related hemorrhage from about 25% to 3%. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, mortality in the field improved 10% with the use of tourniquets.
The Stop the Bleed (STB) program of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Committee on Trauma (CoT) teaches citizens how to control traumatic bleeding with tourniquets or materials available on-hand after ensuring personal safety and calling 911.
Students receive ACS CoT Stop the Bleed training and a bleeding control kit consisting of gauze for wound packing and compression and a tourniquet akin to that provided to Special Forces. Students will teach local residents how to control traumatic bleeding during community outreach events and seminars. Students report on outcomes reflecting the national STB initiative.
Students:
- Demonstrate bleeding control with the use of wound packing and compression with materials on-hand and tourniquets
- Identify opportunities to teach STB in our community
- Create STB sessions for students at local schools
- Create STB sessions for citizens at community outreach events and festivals
- Champion public availability of tourniquets and bleeding control kits as a national program
- Describe the impact of STB on pre-hospital outcomes for traumatic bleeding
How do I participate?
- Take a STB class at any of our community STB courses.
- Host a course for your community organization. (Contact Greg Neiman at gregory.neiman@vcuhealth.org)
- Host a train-the-trainer course for a group of potential instructors. (Contact Greg Neiman at gregory.neiman@vcuhealth.org)