How to handle trauma
STOP THE BLEED COURSE HOSTED WEDNESDAY
Knowing what to do in the moments following a serious trauma event can mean the difference between life and death.
To make sure local residents have the training they need for just such an event, a Stop the Bleed course is being offered at Chinook Regional Hospital.
The trauma course is designed to teach the public how to properly respond to an instance where a person may be suffering a serious trauma. It is the second of its kind in Canada.
About 20 instructors involved in the medical profession are involved in the Stop the Bleed course, including physicians, nurses and paramedics on a volunteer basis.
“We know bleeding is a preventable cause of death,” said Theresa Pasquotti, trauma co-ordinator for Chinook Regional Hospital South Zone West and a staff nurse in the emergency department.
“We thought it was really important that we start teaching the public on how to do that.”
Stop the Bleed began as a national awareness campaign in the U.S. and used as a call to action to encourage bystanders in casualty events to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in the case of a bleed emergency prior to the arrival of emergency responders.
The program was designed by the American College of Surgeons after the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in 2012 when 20 students and six staff were murdered. In that case, bystanders became first responders.
The first hospital to implement the Stop the Bleed program in Canada was Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where it began in August 2017.
Pasquotti said the program was featured at a national conference. It was felt at that time the program would be a good fit for Lethbridge. The CRH is now the second trauma centre in the country to offer the program to the public.
“We just felt it was important to get that instructor course, and bring it to our city.”
“In the U.S., it’s a response to their mass shootings,” said Harvey Hawes, the Trauma Medical Director and a trauma surgeon at Chinook Regional Hospital as well as a trauma surgeon at Vancouver General Hospital. “But in Canada, we’ve had a few mass events, too — bus crashes and things, this would be really useful for that as well.
“As a trauma surgeon, I can do so much if they get here. But if they can’t get here, there’s nothing I can do.
“One of the things that limits whether a patient is alive when they get to the door is whether they have any blood left.”
This is why it can be vital for bystanders to be comfortable and capable in dealing with a large trauma issue.
Some of the course is also designed to get over the shock of witnessing substantial blood loss. They will also learn strategies in mental preparation from medical professionals used to dealing with those types of events.
“We know it can be quite scary for average people to go out and push on bleeding things,” Hawes said. “That’s not something they are used to dealing with on a dayto-day basis.”
Hawes noted local residents will soon see Stop the Bleed kits alongside defibrillator (AED) kits in the community.
The kits include items such as gloves, combat bandages, and tourniquets.
The course teaches bystanders how to recognize the signs of bleeding, calling 911, and making sure they are safe, applying pressure to wounds, and how to properly apply a tourniquet.
One of the most important things for people to remember when they witness a traumatic event is to call 911. During the moments after these events, it does not always occur to people to make that call.
Stop the Bleed will take place Wednesday from 2 to 4 p.m.
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