Baystate Medical Center Joins Nationwide Effort to ‘Stop the Bleed’

SPRINGFIELD — Would you be able to help someone who is bleeding to death?

Many civilians have expressed interest in taking a bleeding-control training course that would empower them to immediately assist victims of active shooter and other intentional mass-casualty events, according to the results of a national poll published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. 

Now, a free course called “Stop the Bleed,” offered by the Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery at Baystate Medical Center, will help the public to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. The inaugural class will be held on Tuesday, May 29 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the hospital’s Chestnut 5 Conference Room.

“Learning how to stop a bleed goes far beyond high-profile, mass-casualty incidents. In fact, people are much more likely to provide help in everyday events such as car crashes, industrial accidents, and accidents in the home, where serious injuries place people at risk of death due to massive bleeding,” said Dr. Ronald Gross, trauma surgeon at Baystate Medical Center and a member of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma.

“You don’t have to be a professional emergency responder to save someone’s life. Anyone with the knowledge and skills offered through our ‘Stop the Bleed’ course can administer simple medical care that will stop their hemorrhaging. Similar to how the general public learns and performs CPR, the public must learn proper bleeding-control techniques,” he added, noting that, for every life saved with an AED and CPR, nine people will bleed to death due to injuries where these deaths could have been prevented.

Among the skills learned in the class are how to apply a tourniquet, the correct way to pack a wound, and how to apply pressure to stop the bleed. Participants should wear loose, comfortable clothing to class, as they will be practicing skills that require them to work on their hands and knees, as well as to bend, stand, and lift.

Additional classes will be offered on the fourth Thursday of each month, including June 26, July 24, Aug. 28, Sept. 25, Oct. 30, and Nov. 27. To register for the free class, visit www.baystateaha.org.