‘Stop the Bleed’ Effort Offers Life-Saving Kits and Training University-Wide`
Beginning April 1, ‘Stop the Bleed’ bleeding-control kits will be installed in every public access AED cabinet across University of Rochester campuses, including the Medical Center, all River Campus buildings, Eastman Institute of Oral Health, Memorial Art Gallery and the Eastman School of Music. All University faculty and staff will also have the opportunity to take part in walk-up trainings and skills demonstrations provided by members of the URMC Kessler Trauma Center team.
The first of several ‘Stop the Bleed’ walk-up demonstrations for UR employees will take place Monday March 26, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Saunders Research Building atrium. Individuals will be able to get 5-10 minutes of hands-on experience fastening tourniquets and applying gauze to deep wounds, using simulation equipment.
Additionally, 60-minute, certificate-bearing courses will be provided for employees interested in gaining greater proficiency and becoming certified to train others. Registration is requested for these courses.
The ambitious movement to prepare the University community in bleeding control is aligned with National ‘Stop the Bleed’ Day on March 31. It represents the latest phase of the Kessler Trauma Center’s ongoing endeavor to prepare people across the region to prevent bleeding deaths that occur following everyday emergencies, as well as manmade and natural disasters.
People with severe bleeding can die in less than five minutes without intervention, and more than a half-million lives are lost nationwide to bleeding injuries every year. Hemorrhage is responsible for more than 35 percent of pre-hospital deaths and more than 40 percent of deaths within the first 24 hours.
“These are preventable deaths if people at the scene have a few basic tools available and some very simple training in what to do,” says URMC Kessler Trauma Center director and surgeon Mark Gestring, M.D., who has become a locally and nationally known advocate for the awareness campaign since it was launched under the Obama administration by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2015.
The effort aims to lower the number of people who die of bleeding injuries following shootings and acts of terrorism, as well as motor vehicle accidents and other more common traumatic events.
In 2016, Gestring and his Kessler Trauma Center team launched the first phase of the University effort by training all UR Public Safety officers in bleeding control, becoming one of the first academic medical centers in New York State to do so. Since then, the trauma program has given free training to hundreds of local businesses and community groups, and fields several calls a week from interested individuals.
Providing the kits and training to the University community is a broad goal that the Kessler Trauma Center had been working hard to achieve.
“In an organization this large, serving thousands of people every day, it’s important that we have people across our campuses who are trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency wherever it might occur,” Gestring says. “Emergency responders will arrive as quickly as possible, but bystanders are almost always there first. And, in the case of disaster and high casualty incidents, emergency services are often spread thin. We are very proud now to be able to provide all University employees with the tools and training to save lives, if needed.”
For more information on upcoming demonstrations and courses, or to book a bleeding control course for your company or group, visit the Kessler Trauma Center’s Stop The Bleed web page, contact the Kessler Trauma Center at 275-8000 or email trauma@urmc.rochester.edu.