February 20, 2018—Centre LifeLink EMS, in conjunction with State College Police Department, encourages local organizations and community members to get trained to “stop the bleed”. In the event of a mass shooting, like the one in South Florida, and the Las Vegas Country Music Festival in October 2017, teaching bystanders how to treat life-threating bleeding wounds before first responders arrive is becoming increasingly important.
Launched in October of 2015 by the White House, Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and a call to action. Stop the Bleed encourages bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before help arrives.
Eliza Shaw, Centre LifeLink’s Community Outreach Coordinator, explains “when it comes to life threatening wounds, minutes, or even seconds, may be all of the time we have. That’s why it is so crucial to be trained in how to use a tourniquet, or pack a wound. These techniques compress veins and arteries to help slow the bleeding, so that we can get them to more definitive care.”
Centre LifeLink has held several Stop the Bleed sessions with local businesses, but encourages other community businesses and groups to get informed, especially local schools. “In light of recent events nation-wide, we are trying to figure out how to get this information to students and schools. It’s not hard to do, and it could impact some of these people tremendously if they are ever in a situation such as a mass-shooting,” says Shaw.
For more information, or to schedule a session, please contact Centre LifeLink’s Outreach Coordinator, Eliza Shaw at Eshaw@centrelifelink.com or (814) 237-8163.