Augusta University joins national Stop the Bleed campaign

From the shooting in a synagogue outside San Diego to the gunman who opened fire inside a STEM school in Denver, mass shootings across the United States are becoming more common.

In fact, the U.S. has already experienced 137 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that provides near real-time data on gun violence across the country.

May is National Stop the Bleed Month, and in the wake of public mass shootings, Augusta University has joined the nationwide campaign by purchasing 300 Bleeding Control Kits and providing training on how to use them in a bleeding emergency.

Each kit contains several military-grade items, including a tourniquet, bleeding control dressing and protective gloves. These kits have been vetted by the U.S. Department of Defense and will be placed in designated areas on all of the university’s campuses.

“Uncontrolled bleeding or hemorrhage is the most common cause of preventable death, and I am grateful Augusta University has joined the Stop the Bleed campaign to raise awareness on how simple measures can save many lives,” said Dr. Richard Schwartz, chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia.

On May 23, the university’s Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPaR) will kick off free Stop the Bleed workshops at 9 a.m. in the J. Harold Harrison, M.D. Education Commons, Room 1120 on the Health Sciences Campus and at 2 p.m. in Science Hall, Room 1002 on the Summerville Campus.

In these interactive sessions, participants will learn how to quickly use the kits to help someone in an emergency bleeding situation until first responders arrive.

“A crisis can happen any time, and we are offering these workshops to help our community feel prepared and equipped to take action if tragedy strikes,” said Joe Webber, director of CEPaR. “Emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility, and our CEPaR team will continue teaching these sessions to educate the Augusta community on how they can help each other during a bleeding emergency.”

For more information on the Stop the Bleed workshops, contact CEPaR at 706-729-2407.