PINEHURST – The Moore County medical community, which includes FirstHealth of the Carolinas, Pinehurst Surgical, Pinehurst Medical Clinic and the Mid-Carolinas Physicians Organization, are raising awareness about National Stop the Bleed Day on March 31. Stop the Bleed is a national initiative to train and educate the public on how to control bleeding.
According to the World Health Organization, the top cause of preventable death in trauma is bleeding. Twenty percent of people who have died from traumatic injuries could have survived with quick bleeding control.
“The purpose of the Stop the Bleed program is to prepare people to stop serious bleeding in an emergency, just as people perform CPR or use an AED to restart someone’s heart,” says David W. Grantham, M.D., board certified general surgeon with Pinehurst Surgical and President-Elect of the North Carolina Chapter of the American College of Surgeons, and lead physician for the Moore County Stop the Bleed program.
Launched in October 2015, Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and call to action that was initiated by a federal interagency work group formed by National Security Council staff and the White House. It is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.
The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) is leading the effort to save lives by teaching the civilian population to provide vital initial response to stop uncontrolled bleeding in emergency situations. The Stop the Bleed campaign has been successful in its efforts to inform and empower the more than 300 million citizens of the United States. ACS Fellows are educating other medical providers and the community on bleeding control in all 50 U.S. states and almost 40 countries internationally.
“Our goal is to engage, educate and train the citizens of our communities on the Stop the Bleed program,” says Dr. Grantham. “When someone has a major injury, they can bleed out and die within just minutes. But if someone on site is educated or trained to simply control the bleeding, we can keep those people alive until medical help arrives.”
The National Stop the Bleed campaign has been extremely successful, with almost 3,000 registered classes and almost 6,000 instructors registered on the ACS Bleeding Control website. This website has become the leading portal for bleeding control information, stories of the international impact of the Stop the Bleed efforts and approved training materials.
“Even with thousands of instructors and more than 30,000 individuals already taught on what to do in a bleeding emergency, we need members of our community to learn about the program in order to be prepared for local accidents and/or other traumatic events,” adds Dr. Grantham. “Our medical community is working together and volunteering their time in order to offer Stop the Bleed classes in the near future. Additionally, stop the bleed kits are being purchased and will eventually be placed throughout the region. ”
National Stop the Bleed Day will take place on March 31 of this year. To learn more about the national awareness day, visit www.stopthebleedday.org. To participate in a Stop the Bleed class in North Carolina, visit the national website at www.bleedingcontrol.org.
