As mass casualty events grow increasingly common and deadly, with 692 shootings in 2021, it’s up to the American public to empower themselves with the education to stop a hemorrhage.[1] The STOP THE BLEED® Campaign is doing just that.
The initiative began in 2013 after 28 children and staff were killed at the Sandy Hook elementary school and mere months later the Boston Marathon Bombing killed three and injured 280 more. As Americans watch mass casualty events play across their screen, the need for sweeping reform became increasingly apparent. With the knowledge that it takes a person only 3 to 5 minutes to bleed out, but it takes an average of 7 to 10 minutes for Emergency Medical Services to arrive on scene, legislators, medical professionals, and the public mobilized to form a grassroots campaign to increase survivability of these mass casualty events.
A Change to Mass Casualty Response
Facilitated by the American College of Surgeons, medical professionals, EMS duffle bag, and law enforcement community leaders gathered at a conference in Hartford, CT to come up with a practical path forward. The conference spurred crucial EMS and law enforcement policy changes, shifting protocol to focus on blood-loss victims as soon as possible. While this was a crucial change to mass casualty response, the Hartford Consensus was a call to action for all Americans. They discerned that civilians are best positioned to provide immediate care until professional help is available. With the right education and equipment, anyone can take life-saving measures. With this in mind, the STOP THE BLEED® campaign offers accessible courses and supplies to stop bleeding and empower the public to act fast.
How to Get Involved
Since its initial launch, the American College of Surgeons program has prepared over 2.1 million people to stop the bleed. The STOP THE BLEED® campaign continues to expand on a state, national, and global level. Many states have introduced or passed legislation and budgets to install STOP THE BLEED® education and equipment in public spaces. At a federal level, a bipartisan bill has been proposed to provide anti-blood-loss supplies and bleeding control training. The Prevent Blood Loss with Emergency Equipment Devices Act (Prevent BLEEDing Act) aims to educate and empower the public to make bleeding control education and equipment as readily available as CPR training.[2]
With online and local, in-person programming, you can be prepared for a mass casualty event. Most courses last less than 90 minutes with hands-on training. Find a local program or register online learn to STOP THE BLEED®.[3]
Supplies & Education for Survival
Having the proper equipment is as essential as the proper education. Your STOP THE BLEED® kit should stay stocked with personal protective equipment, tourniquets, hemostatic dressings, and a bandage. While there are many versions of the kit, we recommend Fieldtex’s Stop the Bleed kit [4] specifically designed for both civilian and tactical use. This comes packed with a one or two-handed tourniquet, compressed Gauze, wound stop pressure dressing, a survival rescue blanket, nitrile gloves, trauma shears, a sharpie marker, and Bleeding Control Instructions.
Empower yourself with the knowledge and supplies to control a life-threatening bleed. Your preparedness could save the life of a peer, a loved one, or even a stranger. Keep a kit handy in your car, home, desk, office, and everywhere else you can think of. Your forethought could mean the difference between life and death. Join the growing movement to STOP THE BLEED. Sign up for a course and purchase your kit today.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/07/us/2022-shootings-pace-worst-ever/index.html
[2] https://www.facs.org/for-medical-professionals/news-publications/news-and-articles/acs-brief/may-24-2022-issue/prevent-bleeding-act-introduced-to-advance-stop-the-bleed-efforts/
[3] https://www.stopthebleed.org/training/
[4] https://www.e-firstaidsupplies.com/Stop-The-Bleed-Kit.html
