Okla. Hospital Offers Free Stop the Bleed Course

March 08—Tragedy can happen in an instant, and in the aftermath of the recent Florida school shooting and leading up to national Stop the Bleed Day on March 31, trauma experts at OU Medicine are offering a free course on how to save the life of someone bleeding to death through a program called "Stop the Bleed."

The top cause of preventable death in traumas is blood loss. After a traumatic injury, major blood loss is responsible for more than 35 percent of prehospital deaths and more than 40 percent of deaths that occur within the first 24 hours of hospital admission, according to the National Trauma Institute.

"We've got to do something to help injured patients while they wait for EMS, first responders or trained professionals," said Dr. Roxie Albrecht, trauma surgeon and trauma medical director at OU Medical Center. "This training can help save lives."

Albrecht said the training is helpful in tragedies like the recent school shootings, the Boston Marathon bombing and others, but it is also life-or-death knowledge in natural disasters like the tornadoes experienced in Oklahoma.

The "Stop the Bleed" course was developed after the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Just like CPR classes teach bystanders to assist people in cardiac arrest, a short "Stop the Bleed" class can help bystanders act decisively and safely to save lives by stopping excessive bleeding. Tactics such as tourniquet use, applying pressure to a wound and wound packing can save lives in the critical moments before first responders arrive.

The public can go to www.oumedicine.com/stopthebleed to learn more, request training sessions for schools or businesses, and to see public training days. More information is also available at www.bleedingcontrol.org.