An injury that leads to severe bleeding must be treated right away; sometimes emergency crews cannot get to a person who is severely bleeding in a timely manner. The Stop the Bleed campaign is a nationwide effort to better prepare members of the public to save lives. This preparation is being done by raising awareness and teaching people how to learn quick actions to control serious bleeding. A bystander, neighbor, friend or relative can be the person to get the bleeding under control before help arrives - and save the patient's life!
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN, is a Stop the Bleed instructor at Norton County Hospital. She wears many other hats in her nursing role as well. Julia speaks to why Stop the Bleed is an important campaign and what is covered in a typical Stop the Bleed training. This is timely, because May is Stop the Bleed Month!
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Stop the Bleed Empowers Anyone To Save A Life
Featured Speaker:
As the Trauma Program Coordinator, Julia strives to maintain the hospital’s designation as a Level IV Trauma Center. She provides hospital-wide trauma education and educates the community on injury prevention. Julia is also an instructor for Stop the Bleed and Stepping On.
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN, is the Emergency Preparedness, Safety and Trauma Program Coordinator for Norton County Hospital. She works to prepare the facility for disaster response and crisis management should a natural disaster or emergency situation occur. She also provides hospital-wide safety education. She has played a crucial role in COVID-19 safety efforts over the past year.As the Trauma Program Coordinator, Julia strives to maintain the hospital’s designation as a Level IV Trauma Center. She provides hospital-wide trauma education and educates the community on injury prevention. Julia is also an instructor for Stop the Bleed and Stepping On.
Transcription:
Stop the Bleed Empowers Anyone To Save A Life
Caitlin Whyte: An injury that leads to severe bleeding must be treated right away. But sometimes emergency crews can not get to a person who is severely bleeding in a timely manner. The Stop The Bleed campaign is a nationwide effort to better prepare members of the public to save lives. Julia Thompson is a Stop The Bleed instructor at Norton County Hospital and joins us today to talk about this training.
From the Plains of Rural Northwest Kansas to you, this is Health in the Heartland presented by Norton County Hospital where medical experts aim to empower health at any stage of life. I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. Julia, can you start us off here by explaining the history of the Stop The Bleed, and why is it such an important program?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Well, the Stop The Bleed program was developed by several organizations. One of the main ones being American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, and they all recognize that there was a need in the community to train the public on how to control a bleeding emergency before first responders could arrive. This was more prominent after large mass shootings and people were dying before first responders were able to arrive. But it does give the public the knowledge and ability to save a life because bleeding emergencies can happen anywhere.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, how did you bring this program to Norton, Kansas? And how many people have you trained to date?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Well, back in 2017, I attended a regional trauma meeting and there, they had some instructors who'd taught us at the meeting how to teach the class. And so I signed up to become an instructor and I've since then brought it to Norton County Hospital. But since then we have trained just under 300 people over a dozen organizations within the county.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh my gosh. So walk us through a bit, what takes place in a Stop The Bleed training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. So there's a small lecture component and then there's hands-on practice. Initially, we kind of review through a PowerPoint what is considered a bleeding emergency, how to identify it, how to keep yourself safe when assisting someone and then ways to intervene, which include pressure packing and tourniquet use.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, what type of person should take a Stop The bleed training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Honestly, this is for anyone.
Caitlin Whyte: Gotcha.
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Yeah. High school students, could be kiddos in 4-H, FFA, teachers, bus drivers, law enforcement; farmers are a big one out here, manufacturing, but really anyone.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, the Stop The Bleed empowers people to take charge of a situation and help save a life, like you mentioned earlier. How is this similar to outcomes we expect from say a CPR training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. It's been very well known knowledge that CPR is taught to the public as well because research has shown that immediate intervention does save lives. The average time for an individual to bleed out is three to four minutes. And the average time for a first responder to arrive on scene is five to six minutes. And that time could be much longer in a rural area. So for those that have witnessed the event or present shortly thereafter having this knowledge have the ability to save lives by intervening very quickly.
Caitlin Whyte: So say we are caught in a situation like this, what kind of equipment is needed and what if we don't have that equipment available? What can we do to control bleeding?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. Throughout the program, they talk about ways to utilize equipment that's available, but sometimes it's not. So using literally the shirt off your back or whatever's in and around your area is totally appropriate. And we review how to use a rag or a cloth or a belt or a neck tie as improvised items. Ideally, and in the dream world, every pickup, every tractor, every school would have multiple Stop The Bleed kits available to them.
Caitlin Whyte: You know, you mentioned Norton is a rural area and agriculture and manufacturing are such big, important industries around here. Any advice for those who work in those areas and what should they have on site to help in case of an injury?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: My number one thing would be to take this class, to have that knowledge, to identify bleeding emergencies, and then having the knowledge of how to appropriately intervene. So taking this class would be my first recommendation. And then two, after taking the class, you can visit with me on how to even build your own Stop The Bleed kit. The program offers pre-built ones, but you can modify that in any way to accommodate your needs. But because we know there's such high risk jobs, such as manufacturing and farming and have the potential to have those bleeding emergencies, knowledge of this class would be most important.
Caitlin Whyte: And finally wrapping up here, how does someone sign up for a Stop The Bleed training in our area and how often should they repeat this training to stay fresh?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. So there are two ways. If you live within Norton county, you can always monitor the hospital’s social media pages. We'll post the current classes on there and our website. If you're not from the area, you can always go to bleedingcontrol.org and search for classes within your area. The class is totally free. It runs about an hour to an hour and a half. There are no refreshers required. It's unlike CPR where you recertify every two years, but a refresher does not hurt. And again, it's totally free.
Caitlin Whyte: Great. Well, Julia, is there anything else you'd like to add about the Stop The Bleed training at Norton County?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: I would love to see new faces and to double the amount of people we have trained already. That would be great.
Caitlin Whyte: Absolutely. Well, you heard Julia. To learn more about the Stop The Bleed, call Norton County Hospital at (785) 877-3351. That's (785) 877-3351. You can also learn more about stop the bleed at stopthebleed.org.
Thanks for listening to Health in the Heartland. You can also find out more about Norton County Hospital online at ntcohosp.com. Again, that's ntcohosp.com. Take care of yourself and others. Be well.
Stop the Bleed Empowers Anyone To Save A Life
Caitlin Whyte: An injury that leads to severe bleeding must be treated right away. But sometimes emergency crews can not get to a person who is severely bleeding in a timely manner. The Stop The Bleed campaign is a nationwide effort to better prepare members of the public to save lives. Julia Thompson is a Stop The Bleed instructor at Norton County Hospital and joins us today to talk about this training.
From the Plains of Rural Northwest Kansas to you, this is Health in the Heartland presented by Norton County Hospital where medical experts aim to empower health at any stage of life. I'm your host, Caitlin Whyte. Julia, can you start us off here by explaining the history of the Stop The Bleed, and why is it such an important program?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Well, the Stop The Bleed program was developed by several organizations. One of the main ones being American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, and they all recognize that there was a need in the community to train the public on how to control a bleeding emergency before first responders could arrive. This was more prominent after large mass shootings and people were dying before first responders were able to arrive. But it does give the public the knowledge and ability to save a life because bleeding emergencies can happen anywhere.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, how did you bring this program to Norton, Kansas? And how many people have you trained to date?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Well, back in 2017, I attended a regional trauma meeting and there, they had some instructors who'd taught us at the meeting how to teach the class. And so I signed up to become an instructor and I've since then brought it to Norton County Hospital. But since then we have trained just under 300 people over a dozen organizations within the county.
Caitlin Whyte: Oh my gosh. So walk us through a bit, what takes place in a Stop The Bleed training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. So there's a small lecture component and then there's hands-on practice. Initially, we kind of review through a PowerPoint what is considered a bleeding emergency, how to identify it, how to keep yourself safe when assisting someone and then ways to intervene, which include pressure packing and tourniquet use.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, what type of person should take a Stop The bleed training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Honestly, this is for anyone.
Caitlin Whyte: Gotcha.
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Yeah. High school students, could be kiddos in 4-H, FFA, teachers, bus drivers, law enforcement; farmers are a big one out here, manufacturing, but really anyone.
Caitlin Whyte: Now, the Stop The Bleed empowers people to take charge of a situation and help save a life, like you mentioned earlier. How is this similar to outcomes we expect from say a CPR training?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. It's been very well known knowledge that CPR is taught to the public as well because research has shown that immediate intervention does save lives. The average time for an individual to bleed out is three to four minutes. And the average time for a first responder to arrive on scene is five to six minutes. And that time could be much longer in a rural area. So for those that have witnessed the event or present shortly thereafter having this knowledge have the ability to save lives by intervening very quickly.
Caitlin Whyte: So say we are caught in a situation like this, what kind of equipment is needed and what if we don't have that equipment available? What can we do to control bleeding?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. Throughout the program, they talk about ways to utilize equipment that's available, but sometimes it's not. So using literally the shirt off your back or whatever's in and around your area is totally appropriate. And we review how to use a rag or a cloth or a belt or a neck tie as improvised items. Ideally, and in the dream world, every pickup, every tractor, every school would have multiple Stop The Bleed kits available to them.
Caitlin Whyte: You know, you mentioned Norton is a rural area and agriculture and manufacturing are such big, important industries around here. Any advice for those who work in those areas and what should they have on site to help in case of an injury?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: My number one thing would be to take this class, to have that knowledge, to identify bleeding emergencies, and then having the knowledge of how to appropriately intervene. So taking this class would be my first recommendation. And then two, after taking the class, you can visit with me on how to even build your own Stop The Bleed kit. The program offers pre-built ones, but you can modify that in any way to accommodate your needs. But because we know there's such high risk jobs, such as manufacturing and farming and have the potential to have those bleeding emergencies, knowledge of this class would be most important.
Caitlin Whyte: And finally wrapping up here, how does someone sign up for a Stop The Bleed training in our area and how often should they repeat this training to stay fresh?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: Sure. So there are two ways. If you live within Norton county, you can always monitor the hospital’s social media pages. We'll post the current classes on there and our website. If you're not from the area, you can always go to bleedingcontrol.org and search for classes within your area. The class is totally free. It runs about an hour to an hour and a half. There are no refreshers required. It's unlike CPR where you recertify every two years, but a refresher does not hurt. And again, it's totally free.
Caitlin Whyte: Great. Well, Julia, is there anything else you'd like to add about the Stop The Bleed training at Norton County?
Julia Thompson, BSN, RN: I would love to see new faces and to double the amount of people we have trained already. That would be great.
Caitlin Whyte: Absolutely. Well, you heard Julia. To learn more about the Stop The Bleed, call Norton County Hospital at (785) 877-3351. That's (785) 877-3351. You can also learn more about stop the bleed at stopthebleed.org.
Thanks for listening to Health in the Heartland. You can also find out more about Norton County Hospital online at ntcohosp.com. Again, that's ntcohosp.com. Take care of yourself and others. Be well.