Lehigh Med Summer 2019 - 7

L C M E D S O C .O R G

,
d
e
e
l
B
e
h
t
p
o
St
e
f
i
L
a
Save
BY PETER THOMAS, DO
Director of Trauma, St. Luke's University
Health Network
ncontrolled bleeding accounts
for approximately one-third of
trauma-related deaths worldwide
with the majority of those deaths,
occurring within the first 48 hours. In fact,
uncontrolled bleeding is the number one
cause of preventable death from trauma.
There's no doubt that quick thinking and
quick action in the event of any kind of
trauma, especially bleeding, can save lives,
so it's important for everyone to know how.

U

Stop the Bleed (STB) is one of the country's newest public health campaigns. Its
mission is to educate and train first responders, medical personnel and the general
public about the importance of bleeding
control in trauma situations. First responders
often take an average of 7-10 minutes to
arrive, so it's imperative for bystanders to
know how to control bleeding since they
are often first on the scene.
The Stop the Bleed initiative has its roots
in the Sandy Hook school shooting that sadly
took the lives of so many children and staff.
Teachers and school personnel simply didn't
have the training and equipment to help the
wounded. Unfortunately, mass shootings
and terrorist attacks have become a frequent

occurrence in this country, so Stop the Bleed
was started to train bystanders, medical
professionals, law enforcement, fire, rescue
and EMS teams to help make a significant
difference in these terrifying situations.
While traditional first aid kits and AEDS
are certainly vital in emergency situations,
Stop the Bleed training focuses primarily
on bleeding. When we train lay people or
community organizations, we try to keep
things as simple as possible so they can
recall what they've learned if they are ever
involved in these highly stressful and tragic
situations. We break it down by A, B, C...

A - ALERT - Call 9-1-1
B - BLEED - Find the bleeding injury
C - COMPRESS - Apply pressure to
stop the bleeding

The one-hour training includes a 30-minute presentation from a certified Stop the
Bleed trainer and a 30-minute hands-on
training to teach participants how to place
a tourniquet and pack a wound. Our goal
is to partner with schools, community

organizations and places of worship as well
as EMS, police and fire departments, so that
as many people as possible are trained and
equipped in Stop the Bleed. Individuals can
also attend St. Luke's Stop the Bleed training, held monthly at St. Luke's University
Hospital in Bethlehem.
There are many examples throughout
the country of how bleeding control after
trauma works and has saved lives. One
local example is Pennsylvania State Police
Corporal Seth Kelly, who was involved in
a routine traffic stop when gunfire erupted.
Corporal Kelly sustained multiple wounds,
including one to his leg. He was equipped
with a tourniquet and was able to apply it to
stop the bleeding and save his own life until
he was transported to St. Luke's University
Hospital for definitive treatment.
In the last 20 years, there have been two
million traumatic deaths in the U. S., and
it is estimated that over half a million of
those deaths could have been prevented
with proper bleeding-control training
and equipment. No one should die from
uncontrolled bleeding.

SUMMER 2019 | Lehigh County Health & Medicine 7
http://www.LCMEDSOC.ORG
Lehigh Med Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Lehigh Med Summer 2019
