MWMC Recognize National Stop the Bleed Day

National Stop the Bleed Day – May 23, 2024 – is currently one of the largest public health initiatives in the United States. The campaign aims to directly save lives through an effort to increase public awareness and encourage people and organizations across the country to get trained with life-saving Stop the Bleed techniques, so they can be ready to take action and stop everyday instances of life-threatening bleeding in their homes and communities.

The number one cause of preventable death after an injury is bleeding. Experts say it takes approximately 3-5 minutes to die from blood loss and 7-10 minutes is the average EMS response time.

“Stop the Bleed isn't just a program; it's a movement that empowers the public with essential bleeding control techniques,” says Dr. Lisa Sotir, Chief of Emergency Medicine at MetroWest Medical Center. “By arming them with the knowledge and tools to act swiftly in times of crisis, we're paving the way for a community that's better prepared to face the unexpected, ultimately protecting lives.”

Stop the Bleed is critically important because incidents like mass shootings or natural disasters, along with everyday accidents, whether on the playground, the freeway, or in the kitchen could put people at risk of bleeding out. People must become aware of this because in many cases, death from blood loss is preventable.

Stop the Bleed is a course that is designed to teach non-medically trained community members how to control bleeding until professional help arrives. In the Stop the Bleed course, community members learn three quick techniques to save lives before someone bleeds out:

1. How to use your hands to apply pressure to a wound
2. How to pack a wound to control bleeding
3. How to correctly apply a tourniquet

StoptheBleed.org says that more than 1.5 million people have now been trained to Stop the Bleed, but that’s just a start. Their goal is to train 200 million. Why? Because the purpose of the Stop the Bleed campaign is to make our nation more resilient by better preparing the public to save lives if people nearby are severely bleeding. 

Stop the Bleed is a national public health initiative with support from public and private sector organizations and individuals committed to saving lives. The initiative is supported by over 100 organizations including the United States Department of Defense, American College of Surgeons, United States Department of Homeland Security, Stop the Bleeding Coalition, and the American Red Cross.

Where to find a STOP THE BLEED® Course

The STOP THE BLEED® website contains upcoming courses: www.stopthebleed.org. Use our Find a Course tool to search for one that’s near you. Courses are updated on a regular basis, so you can check back again if you don’t find a course that matches your schedule or is close by. If you don’t find a course in your town or city, try searching using just “Massachusetts.” A virtual lecture portion of the STOP THE BLEED® course is now available. We offer an online interactive course which can be found here Online Course | Stop the Bleed. Typically, there is no charge for most STOP THE BLEED® courses. However, sometimes expenses are incurred to hold one.

MetroWest Medical Center Emergency Department is ready to help and provide the quality care you need. For more information, visit our website here.