For National Emergency Medical Services (EMS) week (May 19 – 25), we’re honoring the work that makes our EMS/Medic One system in King County world-class. Each weekday, we’ll share another way that EMS/Medic One works to save lives and help people in emergencies.

May 23 is Stop the Bleed Day for National EMS Week. Blood loss is the leading cause of preventable death after a traumatic injury occurs. Having bystanders trained in how they can help control bleeding until help arrives can often make the difference between life and death.

That’s where life-saving Stop the Bleed training comes in. Tailored to a non-medical audience, this one-session training is designed to help people recognize life-threatening bleeding, and then provide helpful interventions. It includes hands-on practice of direct pressure application, wound packaging and the use of a tourniquet.

Initially developed as a national campaign, many of our local EMS agencies are providing Stop the Bleed trainings, along with partners at UW Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, and the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center.

Want to get trained in Stop the Bleed? For class availability and to learn more about the Stop the Bleed program in Washington state, visit StoptheBleedWA.org.

A second component to our local Stop the Bleed program is providing bleeding control kits in public places — such as schools, college campuses, airports, and businesses – next to the automated defibrillators (AEDs) we use for cardiac arrest. Each kit comes with gloves, packing gauze, compression bandage, tourniquet, marking pen, and patient mover. More kits are continuing to be added in the community – look for them next to AEDs!

For more information about the national Stop the Bleed program, visit bleedingcontrol.org.

Originally posted on May 23, 2019.