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Orlando Health and Orange County Public Schools spent the summer break focused on preparedness lessons. The adult and pediatric trauma teams from Orlando Health provided Bleeding Control Basic (BCon) training to principals, assistant principals and other staff; and donated 1,000 bleeding control kits to the district. The training and donation took place during OCPS Safety Days throughout June and July, with final sessions on Monday, July 29.
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"Emergency situations with uncontrolled bleeding can happen anytime and anywhere, and this includes our schools," said Joseph Ibrahim, MD, trauma medical director, Level One Trauma Center. "It's not pleasant to think about the possibility of life threatening incidents, but it's important to prepare for them. On a daily basis our team sees firsthand the impact of traumatic bleeding injuries. We know the difference between a lifesaving and a life ending moment can depend on how quickly bleeding is controlled. Bleeding control also makes a difference in a patient's recovery."
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Natural disasters, or mass shootings and other man-made disasters in communities can quickly turn into bleeding emergencies.
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"As the Level I trauma center, education and preparedness are parts of our mission," said Sheryl Aldarondo, BSN, RN, trauma and burn injury prevention coordinator, Level One Trauma Center, and training instructor. "Providing invaluable training about simple ways to control bleeding injuries to help save lives, along with kit donations, are ways for us to provide support to the school system's efforts to help keep our children safe during times of need."
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Training includes discussions, demonstrations, and hands-on practice of the ABCs of responding to bleeding emergencies: A for Alert, call 9-1-1; B for Bleeding, find the bleeding injury; and C for Compress, apply pressure by various techniques including a tourniquet or packing the wound.
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Each bleeding control kits contains: gloves, a tourniquet trauma dressing and compressed gauze, a permanent marker and an instruction card.
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"The safety of all students and staff, every day on every campus, is a top priority for Orange County Public Schools and this is one more way the district can help administer immediate care in case of an emergency at school," said Nick Gerth, FPEM, emergency preparedness administrator for OCPS.
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Additional training sessions to the district's School Emergency Response Teams are planned for the upcoming school year and will be led by Orlando Health instructors along with instructors from community fire rescue departments and emergency medical services. Last year, Orlando Health provided Stop the Bleed training to more than 1,200 OCPS employees including transportation staff, registered nurses, and district police staff.
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Since the Stop the Bleed community launch in February 2017, Orlando Health has conducted more than 130 training sessions to more than 5,400 participants including community residents and groups from various sectors such as law enforcement; leisure, sport, and tourism; education; energy and utilities; and health care.
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Orlando Health continues to offer community classes to build awareness and preparedness to help save lives when the need arises. More information is available at www.orlandohealth.com/stopthebleed.
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The Stop the Bleed national awareness campaign and a call to action was launched in 2015 by the White House to provide the general public with the awareness, knowledge and tools necessary to help stop uncontrolled bleeding and help save lives.
