What if you were in a car accident and either you or a loved one were severely injured and bleeding profusely? What if one of your kids were swinging on a rope over a river and on the way back to shore they stepped on a broken bottle? What if you’re out running your chainsaw, cleaning up the yard after a bad storm, and something goes sideways and you cut your leg severely? What if your arm gets sucked into a machine out on the factory floor? What if a vehicle pulls right out in front of you while you are riding your motorcycle and one of your legs is severely damaged, causing hemorrhaging? How are you going to stop the severe bleeding, when and if it happens?

Would you know what to do to get the severe bleeding stopped? Would you have the mental clarity and ability to get the bleeding stopped? Would you have the gear on you or nearby to help you get it stopped? How long is it going to take first responders to get to you? How far is it to the nearest hospital or doc-in-the-box? 

I present these cases not to frighten you but to illustrate some of the different ways in which traumatic injuries (with severe bleeding) can happen. Any of them are possible and severe bleeding can be caused by any number of ways. These sorts of things can happen any time, anywhere. Are you ready to deal with them when they do happen?

Note: We have not been asked or paid by any STOP THE BLEED® organization or otherwise to write this post.

Some Stats

The Stop the Bleed Coalition says that an individual can bleed out in as little as 3-5 minutes, yet the response time for first responders can be 7-10 minutes. Maybe you are good at math or maybe not; but that is a difference of at least 2 minutes, best case scenario. In that 2 minutes, someone may have already bled out. Response times can be even greater if you are out in rural areas. What are you going to do during that time difference while you wait? Watch? I argue It is better to take action!

Severe bleeding (hemorrhaging) is the number one cause of preventable death in all trauma-related injuries, world-wide. In fact, approximately 40% of world-wide deaths, from traumatic injuries, are caused by severe bleeding. That’s significant, no doubt. The good news? You can help!

How To

After calling 911 and making sure the area is safe, you have options to help get bleeding stopped. Direct pressure, wound packing, or applying tourniquets are all options when it comes to getting severe bleeding stopped. 

At least know the ABCs of Bleeding. The “A” is for alert or calling 911. The “B” is for bleeding or finding the source of the severe bleeding. The “C” in the ABCs of Bleeding stands for control/compression.

While death from severe bleeding is not always preventable, we can still do our part. There are options; and we should know how to do them all.

The question is do you know how to do any of these to get the bleeding stopped? No? That’s OK. OwnGuard Solutions can help! We can teach you what you need to know.

Classes

We offer many classes for your consideration, including basic first-aid, CPR, and, as you might guess, how to stop severe bleeding (or hemorrhaging). The Essentials of STOP THE BLEED® course is offered regularly!

The Essentials of STOP THE BLEED® course will teach you how to identify life-threatening bleeding as well as how to apply direct pressure, pack a wound, and how to use a tourniquet properly. Look for upcoming classes from OwnGuard Solutions and register today! We are a proud Educational Licensee with the Stop the Bleed Coalition; and the best part, aside from learning a potentially life-saving skill? The course is usually FREE!

Resources

• OwnGuard Solutions’ Classes
• Stop the Bleed Coalition

Conclusion

You can do our part to learn some simple skills that can potentially save your life, the life of a family member, or even that of a perfectly good stranger. We should not and cannot rely solely on the support of others or the system to save us. No matter, we all have a responsibility, a duty, to take care of ourselves and our loved ones; and we can do so with the skills that a program STOP THE BLEED® teaches us.

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