Excerpts from kvue.com:
Austin-Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) and firefighters explained how to help save a life during mass casualty situations through a recent “Stop The Bleed” course.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, last year, the U.S. saw more mass shootings than days, with 647 occurrences. Its data also shows that this year we’ve seen nearly 40 mass shooting before January is over.
The department is force multiplying by training people to be immediate responders, through its “Stop The Bleed” course. After-action reviews of many mass casualty incidents have consistently determined that some fatalities could have been prevented using simple and effective bleeding control techniques immediately following the injury.
At the Pulse nightclub shooting, 49 people lost their lives day and 14 were deemed survivable by the ME’s office.
The life-saving training can get graphic. If someone has a life-threatening hemorrhage and is bleeding out through a penetrating injury like a stab or gunshot wound in the extremities, medics say first apply pressure. If the person is still bleeding out after continuously applying pressure, use a tourniquet but make sure to continue to apply pressure.
Without a tourniquet, they said to pack the wound with gauze or something like a clean shirt. Once the cavity is full, keep the pressure on until help arrives. Releasing pressure too early will cause the wound to start bleeding again.
ATCEMS held its first “Stop The Bleed” course recently with LGTBQ bar owners and community members. Medics hope to expand the training to other bars as well as mount “stop the bleed” kits on business walls for easy access – and then eventually train the community.
They are working on getting a grant to make it all possible.