Most of us do not expect to encounter a situation in which we will be required to provide care a life-threatening injury. Yet these injuries, although rare, can occur anywhere– including places where medical help may not be quickly accessible.
To bridge this gap, several AARC members attended a “Stop The Bleed, Save A Life” training last week offered by St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor in conjunction with the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and the Community Security Committee. The training was developed by the American College of Surgeons together with a coalition of medical groups following the Sandy Hook and Boston Marathon shootings, with the goal of educating civilians on rapid response to blood loss.
Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma. An injured person may experience life-threatening blood loss before an ambulance is able to arrive. If a bystander is able to stop or even slow the flow of blood before the ambulance arrives, the victim’s life may be saved.
The training went over the ABCs of bleeding trauma care: Alert 911. Find the Bleeding. Compress the injury. Using an artificial arm made of foam, we learned various methods of compression, such as wound packing (shown below), applying a tourniquet (shown above), and applying pressure on top of the wound.
AARC keeps a wound care emergency kit supplied by Safety Liaison Dave Nelson in the welcome table supply basket. It contains all the supplies we would need to provide Stop the Bleed care.
Now that a few additional members of our congregation are educated in the best methods to control bleeding in a life-threatening situation, we can take pride in having learned another way to take care of one another. While we cannot be prepared for every eventuality, this training constitutes a good start. The Federation and the Community Safety Committee hope to organize further trainings on related topics.
For more information on “Stop the Bleed, Save A Life” trainings, please visit stopthebleed.org.
