Schools receive medical kits to stop bleeding

FARMINGTON — Schools in Farmington, Prairie Grove and Lincoln will each have their own medical kits to be used to help stop uncontrolled bleeding until first-responders arrive.

The Stop the Bleed program provides training on bleeding control techniques, such as direct pressure, dressings and tourniquets.

Through a grant sponsored by Arkansas Department of Health, school districts that participated in a training session last year will receive a trauma kit for each campus. Each $700 kit has five packages with a tourniquet, dressings, gloves, shears and instruction card.

John Luther, director of Washington County Emergency Management office, presented some of the kits to school nurses last week during a news conference in the Farmington. Registered nurses from Farmington, Lincoln, Fayetteville and Springdale participated.

The county’s Emergency Management office will give out 92 kits to schools in Northwest Arkansas. In all, the Arkansas Stop the Bleed program is providing 400 kits statewide to participating school districts.

The idea to take the program to schools came out of a more extensive emergency training for fire and law enforcement officers in 2016. Luther said he and others turned around and taught a class in Springdale for school nurses in August. Schools receiving the free kits are obligated to continue Stop the Bleed training for their own staff.

Emily Robbins, Lincoln school nurse, said she believes the program will benefit schools. Before attending the training, Robbins said she wondered what she would learn since she had been through nursing school.

“I walked away with a complete new perspective on it,” Robbins said.

Her plan is to make sure all staff in Lincoln are trained. Springdale, Farmington and Fayetteville schools have done some training sessions. A teacher in Fayetteville brought in students to learn the techniques.

The training to learn to stop uncontrolled bleeding is simple but life-saving, Luther said.

Luther said the use of tourniquets isn’t something that has been promoted in the past. His office couldn’t find one instance where a tourniquet was applied to stop uncontrolled bleeding prior to 2015.

Since the training in March 2016, there have been 40 applications of using a tourniquet during emergencies, Luther said.

He recalled when a Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy was shot during a domestic situation in a rural part of the county. A tourniquet was applied and Luther said that probably saved the deputy’s life.

Tourniquets were used in two other situations in Farmington.

One was a student who was injured at the high school. A coach who had attended a Stop the Bleed training used a tourniquet to help the student.

In the second instance, a man in Farmington injured his hand in a concrete mixer. The accident occurred near the police department and police Chief Brian Hubbard applied a tourniquet. Hubbard, who attended the news conference, said he believes the tourniquet saved the man’s life.

“The Stop the Bleed program has proven to save lives and we’re proud to be a part of this,” Luther said.

The program makes sense, Luther said, because “seconds count” during emergencies but first-responders are minutes away.

Bryan Law, Farmington school superintendent, said the medical kits provide another tool in the toolbox.

“It wasn’t that long ago that we didn’t have CPR training or defibrillators,” Law said. “This is another item to keep our students safe.”

Washington County Judge Joseph Wood said he’s looking at a “bigger picture” for the county and he would like to see student groups and other organizations receive the training. His priority, Wood said, is safety for all residents.

A tourniquet cost about $30 and Luther said he believes it’s a medical item anyone can learn how to use and have available in their own homes in case of emergencies.