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‘The person most likely to save your life, is the person next to you’

Local residents learn life-saving techniques with Stop the Bleed program

News Photo by Julie Riddle Corrections officers Jacob Delekta and Pamela Rich practice packing wounds on a false limb at a Stop the Bleed training on Friday.

ALPENA — Five minutes might be all you have.

Trauma is the number one killer of Americans under the age of 45 and the leading cause of death from trauma is uncontrolled bleeding. After a traumatic accident or injury, it can take as little as five minutes for someone to bleed to death.

That’s the message behind Stop the Bleed, a national program inspired by the Sandy Hook school shooting.

Stop the Bleed training sessions, offered locally through MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, teach people how to recognize life-threatening bleeding and how to manage bleeding until first responders arrive. Tanya Rouse, Trauma Program Manager at MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena, coordinates the training sessions.

The Stop the Bleed program’s first focus is on preparing citizens to respond to active shooter and mass casualty events, Rouse said. While only a few larger events each year are publicized widely, there were around 340 mass gun violence incidents in the U.S. in 2018, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Physicians at MidMichigan embraced the Stop the Bleed program as part of their ongoing educational services to help local residents be as prepared as possible should the unthinkable occur.

Even without a major catastrophic event, the need for Stop the Bleed is real and ongoing. Deep and serious injuries can occur anywhere — at home, on the job, on the road or in public places.

While first responders and EMTs arrive at a scene as quickly as possible, there will always be at least a few minutes’ time before professional medical help is available. A quick and trained response from a bystander or loved one during those first few minutes may be what saves a life.

A Stop the Bleed training Friday was attended by 14 county employees representing a wide variety of departments, from veterans affairs to emergency services to the city maintenance department.

During the one-hour class, Rouse explained how to follow the “ABC’s” in a critical wound situation: Alert (call 911), Bleeding (find the injury), and Compression (stop the bleeding by using pressure, applying a tourniquet, or packing the wound).

Attendees learned the proper way to apply a tourniquet and were given the chance to practice on each other. They also practiced packing a wound and applying pressure using specially-made false limbs.

Life-saving measures to stop profuse bleeding will hurt, Rouse said. Applying a tourniquet or packing a wound will cause the victim you’re caring for to feel more pain. That doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong, however, or that you should stop.

“You’ve got to let that person know that what you’re doing is important and why it’s important, and that you’re trying to save their life,” Rouse said.

Wound treatment is something anyone can learn, Rouse said. She sometimes brings her young daughter to the trainings to show that even a child can apply the techniques being taught.

The goal of the Stop the Bleed is an ambitious one. Organizers hope to get everyone in the U.S. through a class, Rouse said. So far, more than half a million individuals around the country have received the simple training that could save a life.

“The person who is most likely to save your life is the person sitting next to you,” she told her trainees on Friday. “I have an 11- and a 13-year-old, and I want you to be able to save them. And I want them to be able to save you.”

In the past two years, trainings have been provided to Alpena-area EMTs, firefighters and law enforcement as well as churches and social groups. The program will be presented to Alpena Public Schools administrators this spring, according to APS superintendent John VanWagoner and will be considered for inclusion in area teachers’ professional development schedule for next school year.

Two former law enforcement officials attending the training were able to offer a real-life perspective on the importance of knowing how to treat a traumatic injury.

Brad McRoberts, Alpena County Board of Commissioners chairman, worked on the township fire department for 25 years, treating injuries of all kinds as part of his work.

Blood scares people, McRoberts said, making them squeamish about dealing with injuries. But “when someone’s injured bad, you’ve got to dig in” and do what needs to be done.

A former police officer in Florida, Lori Seguin has responded to numerous violent crimes involving severe injuries that led to the danger of bleeding out. She’s seen catastrophic automobile injuries and needed to follow the ABC’s to save lives. But she has also dealt with dangerous wounds on a more daily level. As an ice hockey coach, Seguin has had to treat deep and dangerous wounds caused by sharp ice blades.

“This training can relate to anyone’s daily living,” McRoberts said warmly.

Years of taking care of people have left the two former officers grateful for training like the Stop the Bleed program. People need to know what to do, they said.

“The worst thing you can do is stand there and watch somebody die,” McRoberts said. “It’s the worst feeling afterward if you didn’t do the best you could.”

To schedule a free training for your organization or to inquire about courses available at the medical center, call Tanya Rouse at 989-356-7250 or email tanya.rouse@midmichigan.org.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com.

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