Published: February 2, 2017

AAO-HNS Member Call to Action

Join the Stop the Bleed® initiative and the bleeding control initiative from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the ACS Committee on Trauma, and the Hartford Consensus. This is a nationwide campaign empowering individuals to act quickly and save lives—much like the successful CPR education campaigns that began decades ago.


Stop the Bleed® provides resources to educate the public on how to recognize life-threatening bleeding, on what to do in situations if there is a bleeding control kit available, and what to do if there is not a bleeding control kit available. The campaign details how to properly apply a tourniquet, how to pack a wound, and how to apply pressure using a clean cloth.Stop the Bleed® provides resources to educate the public on how to recognize life-threatening bleeding, on what to do in situations if there is a bleeding control kit available, and what to do if there is not a bleeding control kit available. The campaign details how to properly apply a tourniquet, how to pack a wound, and how to apply pressure using a clean cloth.

Provide essential resources in your community to promote the Stop the Bleed® campaign

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Improve survival.

Join the Stop the Bleed® initiative and the bleeding control initiative from the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the ACS Committee on Trauma, and the Hartford Consensus. This is a nationwide campaign empowering individuals to act quickly and save lives—much like the successful CPR education campaigns that began decades ago.

Uncontrolled bleeding injuries can result from natural and manmade disasters, everyday accidents, and an active shooter or intentional mass casualty event. A victim suffering from severe bleeding often needs quicker assistance than the arrival of first-responders for medical care. The Stop the Bleed campaign highlights how civilian bystanders, if trained, can act as immediate responders to keep the injured person alive until appropriate medical care is available.

To determine the public’s willingness to this endeavor, the Hartford Consensus conducted a national survey1 regarding bleeding control. The survey found that there is a high level of interest to act to help stop bleeding. The level of willingness of survey respondents increased if they were offered training in bleeding control as well as the availability of bleeding control kits in public places.

The survey found more than 90 percent of respondents indicated they would be likely to help someone they didn’t know who was bleeding. Regarding interest in being trained, 82 percent of those physically able to provide aid indicated they would be very interested or somewhat interested in attending a local two-hour class on bleeding control and other first aid techniques.

CALL TO ACTION: The Academy supports the success of this initiative to increase the number of civilian first responders trained and able to render assistance to victims of mass shootings and other mass casualty situations, or any cause resulting in uncontrolled bleeding. As a society of medical professionals, our Members can join and extend the efforts of this nationwide campaign by offering to provide these valuable resources to schools, civic groups, churches, etc.

To date, the Academy has provided the training to the AAO-HNSF staff, shared materials with the nursing programs and hospitals, and plans to conduct training at the AAO-HNS/F 2017 Leadership Forum and BOG Spring Meeting in March.

All resources are available at http://www.bleedingcontrol.org/resources and ready to download. This includes diagrams, news articles, videos, and other resources to educate the public on proper bleeding control techniques. In the next few months, available classes will be listed on the website. Join the conversation on Twitter @bleedingcontrol.

“Stop the Bleed” is a registered service mark of the Department of the Defense.

Reference

  1. The Hartford Consensus: A National Survey of the Public Regarding Bleeding Control: J Am Coll Surg. 2016. http://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(16)00168-X/fulltext

More from February 2017 - Vol. 36, No. 01