Stop the Bleed: How Proper Training Can Help You Save a Life

The Stop the Bleed logo, featuring red and black text reading STOP THE BLEED with a white hand over a red stop sign

It’s an unfortunate reality: emergencies and accidents happen every day.

Motor vehicle crashes, kitchen mishaps, heavy machinery accidents, and natural disasters are a part of life, and they can lead to injuries that cause extensive, life-threatening bleeding.

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number-one cause of preventable death from trauma.

Additionally, hemorrhage accounts for more than 35% of pre-hospital deaths and nearly 40% of deaths within the first 24 hours of injury.

With bleeding, time is of the essence

While response times vary based on location, it takes an average of 7-10 minutes for emergency services personnel to arrive to a call for someone with uncontrolled external bleeding.

However, in some cases, a person can bleed to death in just 3-5 minutes if the appropriate aid isn’t given.

This makes training to stop uncontrolled bleeding an essential public health tool, right up there with CPR and access to defibrillators.

Stop the Bleed: proper training saves lives

Fortunately, similar to CPR and defibrillators, anyone can act as an immediate responder and save lives if they know what to do.

With some basic knowledge of how to control bleeding, significant injury (or even death) can be prevented.

The Stop the Bleed program began in 2015 as a national educational campaign designed to prepare first responders and members of the public to save lives.

The program aims to both provide training and raise awareness of basic actions that can stop life-threatening bleeding in the event of an emergency.

Stop the Bleed programs are offered nationwide – if you’re interested in finding a course near you, visit the Stop the Bleed website.

In addition, South Shore Health offers Stop the Bleed courses that are open to both colleagues and members of the public – find an upcoming class.

What to do if you or someone near you is bleeding

When it comes to stopping life-threatening bleeding, think A-B-C:

  • A – Alert: Get help to the scene by dialing 9-1-1 and alerting emergency services personnel.
  • B – Bleeding: Find the source of the bleeding. In some cases, you may need to remove outer garments or other pieces of clothing to find the source.
  • C – Compress: Use pressure to compress the bleeding vessel in order to stop the bleeding.

 

South Shore Health offers regular Stop the Bleed courses – find an upcoming course or email SSHtraumaprogram [at] southshorehealth.org (SSHtraumaprogram[at]southshorehealth[dot]org) for more information.

This blog was authored by our Trauma Program Injury Prevention Team. Learn more about our Injury Prevention Program.