Telluride Med Center: “Stop the Bleed” Class, 3/4

18 Feb Telluride Med Center: “Stop the Bleed” Class, 3/4

The Telluride Medical Center announced it will host two free “Stop the Bleed” training classes, open to the public, on March 4 at 12 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. in the Wilkinson Public Library’s Telluride Room. Each class is limited to 14 people, first-come, first-served. For more information on the upcoming Stop the Bleed classes, visit tellmed.org.

“Stop the Bleed” is a national campaign aimed to turn regular citizens into first-responders who can assist someone who may be bleeding from an accident, car crash or active shooter event.

“We want to make sure everyone in the community is prepared to help in any emergency,” said Melissa Tuohy, trauma nurse coordinator at the Telluride Medical Center.

“Blood loss is the top cause of preventable death in trauma.”

The training sessions, which are hosted by trauma nurses and emergency department staff from the medical center, will train students to stop active, life-threatening bleeding.

“We think this is a very important training,” said Tuohy. “No matter how rapid the arrival of emergency responders, bystanders will always be first on the scene and the first link in someone’s chain of survival.”

As part of the regional efforts, Tuohy anticipates “Stop the Blee”d kits will be installed at AED stations throughout the community, where portable defibrillators are also available for cardiac emergencies, this spring.

A Stop the Bleed kit will contain gauze, a tourniquet and instructions on how to apply pressure and use the tourniquet to stop life threatening blood loss.

“Our aim is to do what CPR education has been doing for decades: train and empower regular people to save lives,” said Tuohy.

The local training will be offered at both 12p.m. and 5:15p.m. on March 4, but students need only attend one class for the full training.