More than half of all Americans believe they know the proper way to perform CPR, whereas only .004% have been trained in Stop the Bleed techniques. Because of this, the STOP THE BLEED organization hopes to increase awareness and knowledge about trauma-related life-saving techniques.
Stop the Bleed is a set of training techniques that often save lives during a mass shooting. Still, these skills and tools can also be life-saving during other crises in the home or workplace.
Don’t get caught off-guard, as traumatic bleeding can happen anywhere. Our Stop the Bleed guide provides information about the foundation, where to get training basics, and what supplies you should keep around the house to prevent a life-threatening situation.
STOP THE BLEED Campaign
In response to the active shooter tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, groups such as the Joint Committee to Create A National Policy to Enhance Survivability, Hartford Hospital, and the FBI came together to create the Hartford Consensus.
According to the Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), the “overarching principle of the Hartford Consensus is that in intentional mass-casualty and active shooter events, no one should die from uncontrolled bleeding.”
Blood loss can lead to death within five minutes, making it crucial that those who are already on the scene – the bystanders – can provide immediate care.
That’s why the Department of Homeland Security launched the STOP THE BLEED campaign.
The movement is “intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.”
STOP THE BLEED’s goal is to train over 200 million people to stop trauma bleeding, whether it’s from a gunshot or an accident at home.
“Someone who is bleeding can bleed to death in five minutes,” making it even more critical for everyday citizens to be educated appropriately in life-saving techniques.
Since STOP THE BLEED’s inception, this grassroots organization has continued to grow and spread awareness to save lives.
When is Stop the Bleed Month?
Every May is Stop the Bleed Month, with May 24th being the 7th annual Stop the Bleed Day. Each year, organizations nationwide raise awareness by providing up-to-date training courses, new information, and a wide range of resources for your home or office building.
What’s a Bleeding Control Kit?
A Bleed Control Kit, often called a BleedStop Kit, is a collection of medical supplies specifically designed for first-response treatment of severe bleeding.
These kits are used in emergencies where controlling blood loss is paramount before professional medical help arrives. Someone with severe bleeding can die within 5-10 minutes.
With little time to prevent life and death, bleed control kits are invaluable assets in public spaces, workplaces, homes, and vehicles.
Initiatives like “Stop the Bleed” training programs aim to educate the public on using these kits effectively, emphasizing that bystanders are often the first and most critical responders in bleeding emergencies.
What Items Are Included in a Bleed Control Kit?
A Bleed Control Kit typically contains several key items: a tourniquet to stop blood flow to limbs, pressure bandages for wound packing and compression, sterile gauze for dressing wounds, and sometimes hemostatic agents that accelerate blood clotting.
Gloves and safety scissors are standard components, ensuring the responder can administer aid safely and efficiently.
The kits are designed for ease of use, enabling even those with minimal training to provide critical assistance in stopping uncontrollable bleeding.
Where Might You Need “Stop the Bleed” Training?
A blood-loss event can happen just about anywhere. While a lot of the STOP THE BLEED campaign focuses on mass shooting-related trauma awareness, these training techniques are also handy at home in the case of an emergency.
Below are just a few instances where you’ll need to use Stop the Bleed training.
Shootings
Recent gun-related tragedies have increased calls for more people to learn Stop the Bleed training.
Bystanders using tourniquets or properly packing the wound allow enough time for emergency responders to arrive after a shooting. The more people trained (and the more accessible Stop the Bleed kits), the more lives are saved during a shooting crisis.
Compound Fractures
Another area where Stop the Bleed training is beneficial is aid during a compound fracture. A “compound fracture in which the skin is broken by bone, causing an open wound.”
While the bone might not be visible, compound fractures cause a significant blood loss. Whether this happens at a playground or car accident, bystanders trained in Stop the Bleed techniques can reduce blood loss and save lives.
Outdoor Activity Accidents
Outside of compound fractures, there are a variety of outdoor activities that can result in blood loss.
For example, cutting down trees requires people to use sharp blades (either chainsaws or other types of saw blades), which potentially can slip, or a large branch could fall, causing a compound fracture. Any sort of power equipment (lawnmower, chainsaw, etc.) can cause a trauma event.
This includes children’s accidents from swing sets, playgrounds, or tree-climbing.
Manufacturing and Machinery Accidents
Any time people are working around sharp tools and heavy machinery, there is potential for catastrophic mishaps.
Whether caused by user error or machinery malfunction, Stop the Bleed kits and training can be the difference between life and death while waiting for emergency services to arrive.
Kitchen Accidents
A sharp knife is a necessity in every household kitchen. And those who have used a freshly sharpened blade understand the immediate risks that could come from one slip up.
Obviously, every professional kitchen should have a Stop the Bleed kit. Even the most experienced chefs could find themselves in a blood loss event due to a mistake. All kitchen workers need Stop the Bleed training to prevent serious, life-threatening injuries.
Where Can You Get “Stop the Bleed” Training?
The Stop the Bleed program empowers the general public by teaching basic bleeding control techniques. May is Stop the Bleed Month and a great time to learn critical intervention practices and possibly save lives.
Institutions, medical students, and even high school students in at-risk areas are stepping up to familiarize themselves with protocol and bleeding control kits so that they can make a difference when tragedy strikes.
These Stop the Bleed courses are available nationwide, with over one million people completing training.
If you want to get involved, contact your local public health department, hospital, police department, or fire department to see if they offer training.
Courses can also be found online using your city or zip code.
Steps to Stop the Bleed
The following steps are not a replacement for Stop the Bleed training but instead are intended to provide just a brief overview of the steps taught during said training.
The following steps are provided thanks to Stop the Bleed’s official website.
1. Call 9-1-1 before you do anything else.
Before any other steps, you need to first call 9-1-1. In the case of an injury, you want trained medical professionals to be on their way as fast as possible.
After calling emergency services, following the next steps are essential to saving lives before medical personnel can arrive.
2. Ensure your safety.
When in a mass shooting situation, ensuring your safety needs to be the first priority. Remember, you cannot help someone in need if your life is in danger.
Be aware of your surroundings, and once you are safe from any imminent threats, you can move on to the next step.
3. Look for life-threatening bleeding.
After ensuring your safety and waiting for medical personnel to arrive, the next step is to look for any life-threatening bleeding.
The University of Missouri highlights these identifiers for what a potentially life-threatening wound looks like:
- Blood that is spurting out of a wound.
- Blood that won’t stop coming out of the wound.
- Blood pooling on the ground.
- Clothing/bandages that are soaked with blood.
- Loss of any part of an arm or leg.
- Bleeding victim that is confused or unconscious.
If anyone is displaying any of those symptoms, move on to the next step.
4. Determine if a trauma first-aid kit is available.
Look around your surroundings for a trauma first-aid kit. Depending on what you see, the following steps change.
- No: If there are no trauma first-aid kits available, use any clean cloth and apply pressure directly to the wound.
- Yes: If there is a trauma first-aid kit available, the next step is to locate where the injury is.
5. Locate the wound.
If the wound is on the neck, shoulder, or groin, you’ll want to pack the wound with control gauze or any clean cloth. As before, apply steady direct pressure.
If the wound is on the arm or leg, find the tourniquet and apply it above the bleeding site. You’ll tighten the tourniquet until the bleeding stops.
6. Get certified in Stop the Bleed training.
The above flowchart is incredibly helpful after receiving Stop the Bleed training certification. To find Stop the Bleed training near you, visit the Stop the Bleed Training website.
“Stop the Bleed” Kits
Knowing how quickly bleeding can lead to death, it’s crucial to have a bleeding control kit handy. At LifeSecure, we provide bleeding control kits to assist those bystanders until medical help arrives.
The MobileAid BleedStop is an excellent option for responding to multiple casualties at once in an active shooter emergency. The kit includes compress bandages, petroleum gauze pads for chest wounds, blood clotting gauze, and other bleeding wound supplies to help with life-threatening bleeding.
These products work for any Stop the Bleed situation, as the gauze and tourniquet can be used in any traumatic blood loss situation.
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BleedStop RIDE-ALONG 100 Bleeding Control Saddlebags [4 IR 100 kits -TREATS 4 BLEEDING WOUNDS] (32480)$539.95 -
BleedSTOP IMMEDIATE RESPONSE 200 Bleeding Control & Gunshot Wound Trauma First Aid Kit (32714)$144.95 -
Bleedstop REFLEX RESPONSE 100 Bleeding Control Trauma First Aid Kit [TREATS 8 BLEEDING WOUNDS] (32732)$799.95
Any time there is a blood-loss event, it is imperative to stop excessive bleeding as quickly as possible. Don’t get caught off-guard without a Stop the Bleed kit.
Do You Need “Stop the Bleed” Kits?
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, shooting, or even an accident in the kitchen.
