LI Hospital Offers Free Course On How To 'Stop The Bleed' In Mass Casualty Scenarios
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) – While the country struggles to comprehend the latest school shooting in Florida, one Long Island hospital is offering a program that's designed to save lives after an attack.
"These incidents are becoming more and more frequent," NYU Winthrop Hospital's Chief of Trauma Dr. D'Andrea Joseph told WCBS 880's Ethan Harp.
After the Newtown school shooting, doctors realized some victims might have been saved if their bleeding had been stopped immediately.
"What we do is we teach the 'Stop the Bleed' program," Joseph explained.
Places like schools, stadiums and malls are given training along with kits that include tourniquets to cut off bleeding.
"Should you be around a person who's severely injured, what can you do to maximize survival?" she said.
Even if you don't have a kit, there are some basic steps that can stop the lethal flow.
"The idea is to really tie something around an extremity so tightly so as to prevent any blood from going to that wound," said Joseph.
For areas like the chest and neck, tissue can be used as a pressure dressing, pushing down tightly. It's a grim form of first aid, but one that can be the last resort.
"It has taken up speed, unfortunately, because we've had to," she said.
The hospital offers the program for free.
