Western Massachusetts ‘Stop the Bleed’ Trainings To Be Held May 23

SPRINGFIELD — Uncontrolled bleeding is the number-one cause of preventable death from trauma. You can help save a life by knowing how to stop bleeding if someone is injured, including yourself.

“Stop the Bleed” is a national awareness campaign that is intended to educate, train, and empower bystanders to identify and help control life-threatening bleeding before professional help arrives.

Free “Stop the Bleed” courses are being offered by the Western MA Coalition for Stop the Bleed and the Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery at Baystate Medical Center. As part of National Stop the Bleed Day on May 23, free classes will be offered at eight different sites in Western Massachusetts.

“The skills learned in a ‘Stop the Bleed’ class will prepare you to provide help in incidents such as car crashes, industrial accidents, and accidents in the home or workplace, where serious injuries place people at risk of death due to life-threatening bleeding,” said Ida Konderwicz, Injury Prevention coordinator in the Trauma Division at Baystate Medical Center.

Among the “Stop the Bleed” training sites on May 23 and whom to contact to register are:

• Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper St., Agawam, 4-5:30 p.m., katherine.walles@baystatehealth.org;

• Baystate Medical Center, 759 Chestnut St., Chestnut Conference Room 2, Springfield, 9-11 a.m., lou.rios@baystatehealth.org;

• Berkshire Community College, 1350 West St., Susan B. Anthony Building, Room G10, Pittsfield, 9-10 a.m., tdisilva@bhs1.org;

• Williams College, 26 Hopkins Hall Dr., Stetson Hall, Mabbie Room, Williamstown, 1-2 p.m., tdisilva@bhs1.org;

• Baystate Franklin Medical Center, 164 High St., Conference Rooms B & C, Greenfield, 2-4 p.m., jaimeella.laprade@baystatehealth.org;

• Holyoke Boys and Girls Club, 70 Nick Cosmos Way, Holyoke, 9-3 p.m., ida.konderwicz@baystatehealth.org;

• Wilbraham YMCA, 45 Post Office Park, Wilbraham, 3-6 p.m., msterling@wilbraham-ma.gov; and

• UMass Police Department, Community Room, 585 East Pleasant St., Amherst, two classes offered from noon-1:30 p.m. or 5:30-7 p.m., bkellogg@umass.edu.

Among the skills learned in the classes will be 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 with their hands, as well as to bend, stand, and lift.

Konderwicz noted that you don’t have to be a professional emergency responder to save someone’s life. “With the knowledge and skills learned in our ‘Stop the Bleed’ course, you can administer simple medical care that will stop someone’s bleeding.”

For information on future classes, e-mail Konderwicz at ida.konderwicz@baystatehealth.org.