Updated 2020
As the coronavirus spreads, there’s still much to be grateful for in this life. Many of us are reminded to hold our health, family, and friends close during this current pandemic. However, we also still live in a time when everything can be taken away from us almost instantly by an act of violence. In response to the active shooter tragedy on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the Joint Committee to Create A National Policy to Enhance Survivability from International Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events collaborated with many groups including the U.S. government and the Lead Trauma Surgeon at Hartford Hospital. A protocol was created in April 2013 for a national policy to enhance survivability from active shooter and intentional mass casualty events. The committee’s recommendations are called the Hartford Consensus. Directly related to the Consensus is the U.S. government’s Stop the Bleed Campaign.
Intended to spread national awareness and call-to-action, the Stop the Bleed campaign cultivates grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. Those that wish to be prepared to help in such traumatic situations are able to take courses to learn more. While new instructor training has been paused to reflect the current health crisis, Stop the Bleed Month continues to spread awareness of critical practices that could save a life.
LifeSecure also provides bleeding control kits to those who may be on the scene immediately after the tragedy. The unfortunate fact that gunshot wound victims can bleed out and die in less than 5 minutes gives even more incentive to have a bleeding control kit handy in an effort to save lives.
The MobileAid BleedStop bleeding control kit makes it possible to respond to multiple casualties at once in an active shooter emergency situation and includes items such as compress bandages, petroleum gauze pads for chest wounds, blood clotting gauze, and other bleeding wound supplies. The Stop the Bleed program continues to empower the general public by teaching basic techniques of bleeding control. Institutions, medical students, and even high school students in at-risk areas are stepping up to familiarize themselves with protocol and bleeding control kits in order to really make a difference when tragedy strikes.
Any time someone has been shot, it is most imperative to stop excessive bleeding as quickly as possible. Depending on the severity and number of individuals harmed, it is vital to be prepared with the tools necessary to stop the bleeding. LifeSecure helps to secure lives in an emergency and is here to provide you with everything you would need should you encounter any kind of gun-related accident, terrorist attack, or mass shooting.
