Stop the Bleed: Would you know what to do?
Could you save a life in an emergency situation?
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High school students demonstrate the appropriate steps to take during First Aid for Severe Trauma training (Photo courtesy of NCDMPH) |
May 24, 2023 by Ashley Peck
Trauma is the leading cause of death for people under 40 years old and traumatic bleeding is responsible for almost 35% of pre-hospital deaths. Severe hemorrhage can cause a loss of consciousness in under a minute and result in death in less than five minutes without live-saving intervention. Emergencies can occur at any time in any place. Whether it results from a vehicle accident, a mishap at home or in the yard, an animal attack or a mass shooting, severe bleeding is more common than we’d like to imagine, and Stop The Bleed is leading the charge in educating the public in how to control hemorrhaging in a life-threatening situation before medical help can arrive.
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Learning to rapidly and accurately apply a tourniquet following traumatic injury is a key step in Stop the Bleed training. (Photo courtesy of NCDMPH) |
The Uniformed Services University’s National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health (the National Center), in partnership with Stop The Bleed and with funding from the Department of Transportation, has helped conduct dozens of Stop The Bleed training courses, while developing education objectives and carrying out research on the effectiveness of trainings focused on a layperson’s ability to apply a tourniquet in an emergency and stop traumatic bleeding. This research led to a series of scientific publications and has supported the National Center’s development of a Stop The Bleed smartphone app available on both Google and iTunes that provides step-by-step illustrated directions on how to stop life-threatening bleeding. The Center was fortunate to receive funding from the Department of Defense to continue their Stop The Bleed research and employed the funds working with international academic partners to develop the Layperson Audiovisual Assist Tourniquet (LAVA TQ) intended to function similar to the automatic external defibrillators (AED) that have become commonplace, and facilitate on the spot application by anyone in an bleeding emergency.
Funding from the Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate enabled the National Center to collaborate with the American Red Cross and develop a live-saving bleeding control course specifically for high school students. Rolled out across the nation in 2022, First Aid for Severe Trauma (FAST) is the first national Stop The Bleed approved course that prepares high school students to take immediate action and provide assistance to traumatic injury victims. Highlighting the effectiveness of the FAST tourniquet lessons, the National Center conducted a randomized trial to assess high school students’ ability to learn hemorrhage control, which validated the efficacy of the training. FAST is offered in several formats and is available for free to anyone under the age of 19 and to date, over 4,000 individuals have completed the training, with new students taking the course in-person and online every day.
How can you show support? First, become informed, enroll in a course and learn life-saving skills. Second, share Stop The Bleed with any-and-everyone. Third, participate in the annual Stop The Bleed Day on Thursday, May 25. This one day each year specifically recognizes the national efforts to expand Stop The Bleed awareness and training. Everyone is encouraged to participate in activities throughout the month and especially during the 25th, such as sharing photos, videos, news and posters.
We can all help prevent a leading cause of death for too many Americans each year, and our new skills and quick response can make a life-saving difference. To get involved and learn more, check out the resource links below.
