Stop the Bleed program in-person training will take place on March 19.  

“So Stop the Bleed was created by the American College of Surgeons and it was done in response to the increase in mass casualty events, specifically school shootings,” nurse Monica McCool said. 

The program originally started in 2015; it is offered to all faculty and students. It is free and and anyone can join– not just health students.

“The whole purpose is to teach people how to save lives– in the sense that they are being trained to stop major bleeding before first responders get there,” senior Vinusha Ravi said.

Training for the faculty occurs in the fall, while training for students occurs in the spring. Principal Gary Comalander sent out an email containing the details on how students can sign up. 

“It’s learning– in the event somebody is having a massive bleeding event, how you can help until first responders arrive. So learning how to put pressure on wounds, how to pack wounds, tourniquet placement,” McCool said. 

“And so they found that when they went back and assessed a lot of the fatalities were related to bleeding events,” McCool said. “And so with good information and good training, some of those could potentially be prevented in the future.”

The program is broken up into two parts: an online portion and an in-person portion, where students practice on mannequins with prepared wounds. 

“I would say it makes the school feel safer, definitely,” senior Aletheia Bala said.

The in-person portion takes approximately half an hour to complete.

“I think it’s really good, y’know, that they offer this to students,” Bala said.  

The Stop the Bleed program is available worldwide and it is not just offered in school.

“It’s not only useful in the event of a mass casualty; it can be useful in car accidents or any kind of traumatic event,” McCool said.