More than 140 school health professionals have received training in the use of new bleeding control kits that will soon be available at every Howard County school.
The kits, which will also be installed at other public places such as libraries, community centers and government buildings, are intended to be used by community members to control the bleeding of victims during mass shootings and other casualty events.
"We have experienced far too many tragedies, from Sandy Hook Elementary and the Boston Marathon to attacks in Paris and Brussels and other events that have hit close to home," County Executive Allan Kittleman said at a May 13 press conference about the kits. "In the wake of tragic events, where victims experience serious injuries, our first responders want to empower the community to help, by transforming bystanders into immediate responders."
The training was conducted by the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services and took place on Friday at Howard High School in Ellicott City. Additional training will be offered by the department in the future.
Each bleeding control kit contains hemostatic gauze, pressure dressings and tourniquets, which can be used to reduce the impact of a traumatic injury and save lives; survival decreases dramatically following a severe injury with uncontrolled bleeding, according to the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services.
"Like the public placement of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and the launch of the Pulse Point App, this is another critical step in the effort to save lives," Kittleman said.
This installation of the kits and blood control training is modeled on a national initiative called Stop the Bleed, which was launched by the Obama administration last October to provide bystanders in emergency situations the tools and knowledge to stop life-threatening bleeding.
The county's fire and rescue department received a $40,000 grant from the federal Department of Homeland Security to fund these blood control initiatives, $29,000 of which was used to purchase 100 kits for public places. The remaining funds were used to purchase 10 larger mass casualty kits for the Howard County Police Department, according to a statement from the county government.
Howard County is the only jurisdiction in Maryland to be implementing such measures, according to Fire and Rescue Services public information officer Jackie Kotei.
"Severe bleeding remains the single biggest cause of preventable death among trauma patients," said Howard County Fire Chief John Butler. "Survival decreases dramatically following a severe injury with uncontrolled bleeding. That's why we're passionate about getting this resource into the hands of the community. We've learned from other incidents around the country that just an EMS-only response may not be sufficient to address the hemorrhage control needs presented by a mass casualty-mass trauma event."