MILWAUKEE — A Milwaukee hospital system wants training people to stop bleeding in emergency situations to become as common as learning CPR.
Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin is now working to get these skills into neighborhoods that see a high level of car crashes and serious injuries.
According to Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin’s injury prevention and outreach coordinator Kim Lombard, there are critical moments that can mean the difference between life and death if someone has a bleeding injury like from a car crash or gunshot wound. She says it takes minutes for someone to bleed to death and it usually happens before emergency medical help can arrive.
“When we think about a bleeding emergency, it actually is the leading cause of preventable death for people,” said Lombard.
It is why Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin joined the national campaign called Stop the Bleed. The campaign focuses on training people how to use tourniquets and how to pack wounds. The campaign started after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. But Kim Lombard says there is a real need for training in the area because of the high rate of gun violence and serious car crashes.
“There are severe injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes, so we are talking broken bones, lacerations of the skin or body. So definitely somebody could die in a car crash and they could die from bleeding out in a car crash,” said Lombard.
She says in an emergency where someone is bleeding, first dial 911, then look for the source of the bleeding.
“If there was a superficial bleed, the first step we would take is to apply pressure,” said Lombard.
If the wound is deep, then it is important to pack the wound.
“We are basically going to be inserting that gauze or that fabric into the wound,” said Lombard. "In an emergency, if you don’t have something like gauze, you can use any kind of clean fabric like a T-shirt. Simply pack it into the wound as fast as you can and then you are going to apply pressure.”
It is important not to let up on that pressure until emergency crews arrive.
Lombard says Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin are also distributing tourniquets while training people how to use them. Those are applied to the area above the wound.
“We are aiming for about two inches above the wound site. You are going to tighten as much as you can,” said Lombard.
Lombard says if you don’t have a tourniquet or a belt that can cut off blood flow then just focus on applying pressure.
“If we can slow or stop that bleeding, your chance of saving that person’s life is going to be much greater,” said Lombard.
Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin offers free Stop the Bleed training to people in the community. Anyone can request a session for any type of organization like a business, a church, or a community group by clicking here.
