Training turns bystanders into immediate responders

May is National Stop The Bleed Month and San Marcos Hays County EMS is offering free bystander trainings for how to identify and stop severe life-threatening bleeding all throughout the month.

A person with a severe extremity hemorrhage can bleed out and die in as little as three minutes. But having a bystander who knows what to do can mean the difference between life and death. According to San Marcos Hays County EMS’s Administrative Training Lieutenant Katie Contreras, the key saving lives is to have the quickest possible response and that means having more immediate responders, notably those who are already on the scene.

Stop the Bleed is a national campaign that emerged in direct response to the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. It was an initiative of the American College of Surgeons and the Hartford Consensus to set recommendations on active shooter and other mass casualty events. 

“The idea was that we aren’t going to stop shootings and bombings but we can stop people from dying needlessly,” Contreras said. “The people that were there – the teachers, students – they could have helped stop people from dying if they had known how. The need is there and people are generally willing to help, they want to help, they just don’t know how. So by giving them the means to help, they’re more likely to do that.”

Through lectures and hands-on training, instructors teach students how to apply tourniquets, pack wounds and keep the situation stable until first responders can arrive. It essentially aims to turn bystanders into immediate responders.

Contreras said that although the training was created in response to mass casualty events, it is something that can be applied to everyday life situations. 

“So we talk a lot about bombing, shootings and things like that where there can be mass casualty injuries, but the reality is it’s bleeding control so it can be used day to day whether you cut yourself on something at the house or you come upon a car wreck where someone has arterial bleeding,” Contreras said. “It can be used in pretty much everyday life for a multitude of injuries and that’s why we’re advocating for these techniques to be public use instead of waiting the 7-8 minutes for an ambulance when you can bleed out in 2 to 3 minutes.”

Last year was the first year that the campaign went large scale in Hays County. Contreras said they offered about four classes in 2018. But this year they are expanding the training and offering 10 classes throughout May.

The classes are 2 hours long and include a 45-minute lecture as well as hands-on training for wound packing, tourniquet use and general patient assessment.

“Part of what we do is practice, so making sure that you are comfortable with the skills you learned and the equipment you’ll be using,” Contreras said, “and all of the equipment we’ll be using is available for anyone to buy. So we want to make sure that you are ready to go and set to be able to do it on your own.”

San Marcos Hays County EMS has trained more than 1,000 people to Stop The Bleed including school personnel in multiple schools across the region as well as firefighters and police officers. 

Contreras said that age is not really a factor in the training, everyone, including her 5-year-old, can put on a tourniquet and just the exposure to the information can benefit them. 

To register for a class, go to StopTheBleed San Marcos' website to sign up or contact Katie Contreras at kcontreras@smhcems.org.