In honor of National Stop the Bleed Day on March 31, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security’s (IDHS) Division of Training and Preparedness is reminding Hoosiers of basic training and services available to help save a life during emergency situations.
Stop the Bleed is a national campaign launched by the White House in October 2015. The goal of the campaign is to inform and empower the general public to become trained on basic trauma care in order to stop or slow bleeding during emergencies as well as to increase bystander access to bleeding control kits. As part of the agency’s training and preparedness goals, IDHS is working to make Bleeding Control Basic courses more available throughout Indiana.
Bleeding Control Basic courses, part of the Stop the Bleed initiative, are free, last approximately an hour and a half in length and can be taken by anyone, including those with little or no medical training. These courses teach basic awareness and understanding for bystanders to recognize and respond to life-threatening bleeding during emergency events such as car accidents, home or work-related injuries, bombings and mass shootings.
“During emergencies, the ability for bystanders to stop bleeding on the injured can mean life or death in the crucial moments before EMS professionals arrive on-scene,” said State Emergency Medical Services Medical Director, Dr. Michael Kaufmann. “With proper training, Hoosier citizens have the potential to make a significant impact during an emergency. It is important that people are aware of the many free training resources available to help save a life.”
Citizens wishing to take a Bleeding Control Basic course should reach out to their local fire department or other medical organizations within their community to express interest and receive additional information on course scheduling. IDHS will work closely with these organizations to establish training and deliver equipment to those interested in learning these life-saving techniques.
This year, IDHS will be partnering with local first responders and public safety personnel to administer train-the-trainer classes for qualified individuals wishing to teach the Bleeding Control Basic course. This initiative complements the training and certification programs within the Emergency Medical Services Section of IDHS. In addition, IDHS has bleeding control training kits available to loan to local organizations. These kits assist organizations in administering free Stop the Bleed Bleeding Control Basic courses to Hoosier communities.
For additional information about IDHS and the Stop the Bleed initiative, visit dhs.in.gov.
