On October 6, 2015 the White House unveiled its “Stop the Bleed” campaign to empower bystanders to act as immediate responders. Working with the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services, FEMA, the private sector, nonprofits, and the medical community, the "Stop the Bleed" campaign aims to raise awareness of life saving strategies and provide public access to bleeding control tools already used by first responders and the military. This campaign is the culmination of year-long collaboration among the National Security Council at the White House with partners, such as the American Heart Association, American Red Cross, American College of Surgeons, Hartford Consensus, National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Johnson & Johnson and the Harvard Kennedy School.

Uncontrolled bleeding injuries can result from natural and manmade disasters and from everyday accidents. If this bleeding is severe, it can kill within minutes, potentially before trained responders can arrive. Providing bystanders with basic tools and information on the simple steps they can take in an emergency situation to stop life threatening bleeding can save lives. Research has shown that bystanders, with little or no medical training, can become heroic lifesavers. Similar to the use of CPR or automatic defibrillators, improving public awareness about how to stop severe bleeding and expanding personal and public access to Bleeding Control Kits can be the difference between life and death for an injured person.

For more information on these efforts and how you can get involved in the “Stop the Bleed” campaign, please visit dhs.gov/stopthebleed.

Additionally, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma and the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) have collaborated on the creation of a bleeding control course called B-CON that hospitals, trauma centers, EMS services can teach to either professional first responders (law enforcement, fire safety) or to the lay public (now termed “immediate responders”).

For more information on the Stop the Bleed Campaign and the B-Con course, visit their website at: https://www.facs.org/quality-programs/trauma/stop-the-bleed

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Compendium on Strategies to Enhance Survival in Active Shooter and Intentional Mass Casualty Events

https://www.facs.org/~/media/files/publications/bulletin/hartford%20consensus%20compendium.ashx

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