NHCH Offers Stop the Bleed Campaign

Accidents befall everyone, and knowing how to stop a wound from bleeding is knowledge that could prove lifesaving.

North Hawai’i Community Hospital’s (NHCH) trauma team is offering a free class on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, to teach three simple life-saving steps during National Stop the Bleed Month.

Studies have shown that the help given by an immediate responder can often make the difference between life and death, even before professional rescuers arrive, an NHCH press release said.

There is no fee for this training but space is limited and advanced registration is required. The class will be held from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Mauna Kea-Mauna Loa conference room at North Hawai’i Community Hospital.

Stop the Bleed is a 90-minute course that includes a formal presentation as well as hands-on practice of direct pressure, wound packing and use of a tourniquet. The course was developed for a nonmedical audience to address the needs of the immediate responder to control life-threatening bleeding until help arrives, the release said.

Anyone who completes the course will receive a certificate of completion as well as a bleeding control kit. To register, email Nick Vandenraadt, NHCH Trauma Coordinator, at Nvandenraadt@queens.org.

The Stop the Bleed campaign was initiated in 2015 by a federal interagency workgroup convened by the National Security Council. The purpose of the campaign is to build national resilience by encouraging bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.

The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma is leading the effort to save lives by teaching the civilian population to provide vital initial response to stop uncontrolled bleeding in emergency situations.