Program: Stop The Bleed

Stop The Bleed (www.bleedingcontrol.org) is an educational program, initiated by a federal interagency workgroup convened by the National Security Council Staff, The White House. The purpose of the campaign is to build national resilience by better preparing the public to save lives by raising awareness of basic actions to stop life threatening bleeding following everyday emergencies and man-made and natural disasters.

Advances made by military medicine and research in hemorrhage control during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have informed the work of this initiative which exemplifies translation of knowledge back to the homeland to the benefit of the general public.

Massive bleeding from any cause, but particularly from an active shooter or explosive event where a response is delayed, can result in death. Similar to how the general public learns and performs CPR, the public must learn proper bleeding control techniques, including how to use their hands, dressings, and tourniquets. Victims can quickly die from uncontrolled bleeding, within five to 10 minutes.

Injury results from a wide variety of causes, including accidents or intentional harm, and in a wide variety of locations, such as your home or workplace. It is important that as many people as possible survive their injuries if they sustain trauma. Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma. The greater the number of people who know how to control bleeding in an injured patient, the greater the chances of surviving that injury. You can help save a life by knowing how to stop bleeding if someone, including yourself, is injured. San Diego County is participating in this initiative by co-locating trauma kits with Automated External Defibrillators throughout the County.

After the meeting, the club participated in practicing applying tourniquets and packing wounds. For more information on the program, including downloadable booklets, or to sign up for a more detailed class, go to www.bleedingcontrol.org.