Erie County Department of Health offers Stop The Bleed training as part of emergency preparedness activities

September is National Preparedness Month: ‘You are the help until help arrives’

Submitted by the Erie County Department of Health

As National Preparedness Month begins in September, the Erie County Department of Health is announcing expanded Stop the Bleed trainings through its Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP).

“These Stop the Bleed classes teach how to control massive bleeding, whether caused by household injuries, vehicle or workplace accidents, or acts of violence,” said Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein. “Having basic first aid supplies or a tourniquet is not enough when someone is experiencing massive bleeding. You need to know where and how to use those tools and what to communicate to first responders. That knowledge can lead to better outcomes for that injured person, and may even save their life.”

Nationwide, these trainings have prepared more than 2.1 million people on how to stop bleeding in a severely injured person. Locally, ECDOH has trained several hundred people. ECDOH is now inviting businesses, schools, community organizations, houses of worship and any group interested in scheduling a free training to contact PHEP at [email protected]. Emails should provide the organization name, an estimate of how many students would participate, and a phone number and best time to call.

“We provide these as small group classes, so each person can have hands-on training with our mannequins and tourniquets, and work through scenarios with our instructors,” Burstein added. “Those scenarios can be as mundane as slicing your hand with a knife while making dinner; or extreme, like loss of an arm or leg in a vehicular accident.”

This training pairs well with training in basic first aid, AED (automated external defibrillator) use, Narcan use for opioid overdose reversal, concussion safety and poison prevention. Each provides essential knowledge on how to provide immediate help to an injured person until more qualified first responders or medical personnel arrive. You are the help until help arrives.

For more:

√ Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH): www.erie.gov/health

√ Stop the Bleed: https://www.stopthebleed.org

√ ECDOH: Narcan training: www.erie.gov/opioidtraining

√ American Red Cross: CPR, first aid and AED classes: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/lp/cpr-first-aid-aed-certification-new-hero

√ Upstate New York Poison Center: https://www.upstate.edu/poison/community/train.php

√ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), HEADS UP to Youth Sports Concussion Safety: https://www.cdc.gov/headsup/youthsports/training/index.html