BALTIMORE — When there's a trauma, you can help save a life.
Tragedy can strike at any moment. Whether it's a car crash, a shooting or an incident at home. Many times this trauma can cause excessive bleeding and uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death, so by stopping the bleed you could help save a life.
If you come across someone who is bleeding excessively, the best thing you can do is apply pressure.
Dr. David Efron, the Chief of Trauma and the Medical Director of the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center for the University of Maryland Medical Center, explained how just pushing your hands on a wound can help save a life. You can also use a rag or a t-shirt but if you have gauze, you can pack the wound. If the injury is to a limb, you can apply a tourniquet.
All of these materials can be found in a 'Stop the Bleed' kit. They're typically wherever a defibrillator can be found.
Stop the Bleed is a campaign to teach people how to help save a life. It started in 2015 after the Sandy Hook massacre. Over the years, countless lives have been saved because people knew how to help.
You can take a Stop the Bleed class to learn how to properly use a tourniquet through the Maryland Committee on Trauma.
