MCPS introduces “Stop the Bleed” kits

Through a grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is putting “Stop the Bleed” kits in each of its 208 schools. The kits, paired with a 90-minute training session, provide school staff with the appropriate knowledge and resources to stop bleeding from traumatic injuries during emergencies.

“Stop the Bleed” is a national awareness campaign that was launched in Oct. 2015 by the White House. According to the organization’s website, “Someone who is severely bleeding can bleed to death in as little as 5 minutes. That’s why bleeding control, keeping the blood inside the body, is the purpose of Stop the Bleed training.” The campaign is to educate the public, who is always at the scene of an accident before emergency personnel, about how to control serious bleeding.

The 90-minute training session focuses on three simple but important steps: apply direct pressure, pack a wound and use a tourniquet. A formal presentation is followed by hands-on learning. Currently, only MCPS school security personnel have received the training. The next step is to train health educators, who will then give the training to high school students in conjunction with standard lessons on first aid and CPR. It is unknown whether other faculty will be trained, but anyone who wants to be trained can find the information on the organization’s website.

“Stop the Bleed” is becoming more valuable due to the increasing amount of school shootings throughout the United States. There have been 45 shootings on school grounds in the 46 weeks of the year. At least 30 of those shootings resulted in death or injuries. On Nov. 14 at Saugus High School in CA, where five students were shot and two were killed, staff used two bleeding control kits to aid the injured students.  

In MCPS, which has endured several threats for violence over the last few years, the kits are a safety precaution measure. There were three bomb threats and 130 physical and verbal threats reported at county schools during the 2017-2018 school year. 

School health nurse Anisa Harris thinks the “Stop the Bleed Kits” will have a positive impact. “It is always good to have something in case of an emergency. We all hope that we will never have to use ‘Stop the Bleed’ kits, but it’s good to know that we have one, in case it’s needed,” Harris said.

Harris concludes that it is extremely beneficial to teach students, in addition to educators, how to use the kits. “Anytime there’s an emergency, the more people who know how to use emergency equipment, the better. Just like everybody needs to know CPR and everybody learns how to use an automated external defibrillator (AED), it’ll be good to have people who know how to use a ‘Stop the Bleed Kit’ too.”