There is no easy solution to preventing and responding to mass shootings. (Comprehensive data on mass shootings).We should debate legal changes and provide regular employee training and drills, such as Run-Hide-Flight. However, we need to take IMMEDIATE concrete steps to minimize deaths as we wrestle with stopping these deadly events.
A year ago after another shooting, I wrote a post , which urged employers to purchase Trauma response packs and provide basic trauma response/stop-the-bleeding training to certain employees along with employee First Aid training.
Yesterday’s heartbreaking school shooting in Ft. Lauderdale, along with the Las Vegas shooting, indicate that this recommendation should become a standard practice.
We should have already taken this step. In 2015, the White House launched a national awareness campaign - “Stop the Bleed” stating:
Stop the Bleed 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.
No matter how rapid the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes, therefore it is important to quickly stop the blood loss. Those nearest to someone with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide first care. According to a recent National Academies of Science study, trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under age 46.
Look over the one-page handout disseminated by DHS. A longer more comprehensive visual Guide is found at LINK.
I am not the first person, organization or community to have pushed this program. Here are examples of articles discussing local community programs commenced in response to a mass shooting. Article 1. Article 2.
The American College of Surgeons has actively campaigned for trauma training as evidenced by their Compendium of Strategies to Enhance Victims’ Survivability from Mass Casualty Events. The College has established a useful site with written materials, training and videos, Bleeding Control.org. RESOURCES.
I also found many resources at Stop the Bleeding. They sell a Trauma and Bleeding Kit online for under $100, but one can get these kits from many places, even from the omnipresent Grainger.
The following 2017 Article from The Trauma Services Journal describes in detail how to set up a workplace program, steps, and time involved.
The time involved is minimal, most employers will find local training resources, and the additional First Aid materials are inexpensive. You may also want to partner with local organizations and government.
We are not writing about training for your formal response teams and designated first aid personnel. Rather, the training would be voluntary, much like employers often offer first aid and CPR instruction. Depending on state law, such efforts would likely be analyzed under Good Samaritan laws and related statutes much like those for AEDs, CPR and basic first aid training. Consult with counsel. Examples of public sites on Good Samaritan Laws include: Internet Archive and Association of State and Territorial Health Officials Volunteer Law summaries.
