Training received by staff at Altama Elementary School on Tuesday has prepared them for a potential incident as serious as an active shooter or a commonplace random injury.
Nearly 70 staff members at the school went through “Stop the Bleed” training with representatives from several state safety and emergency response agencies.
The “Stop the Bleed” campaign puts the knowledge of first responders into the public’s hands with the aim of saving lives by stopping uncontrolled bleeding in an emergency situation.
Joshua Bain, an inspector with the Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner, led the training. He also provided the training recently to all nurses and school resource officers in Glynn County.
He was asked to return by Altama school nurse Patsy Clinch to provide training for her colleagues at the school.
“‘Stop the Bleed’ kits have been put in our school, and I just want to make sure we all know what to do in case something happens,” she told the group before the training began.
Uncontrolled bleeding is the No. 1 cause of death from trauma that is preventable, according to information provided through the campaign.
The program was rolled out in Georgia in 2017, when funding allowed for all public schools to receive training and for all public schools and school buses to receive kits that include tourniquets, gauze, dressing and other needed supplies for this kind of emergency situation.
“Basically what you’re going to be able to do when you leave this class today — hopefully — is recognize life threatening bleeding and be able to stop it,” Bain said.
Georgia is a leader in providing this training, he said, as it was among the first states to spread this education to all public schools.
Training instructors showed Altama staff the different types of tourniquets, explained the ways to use — and not use — the supplies in each kit and walked them through the steps to take in an emergency.
The staff also had a chance to try their hand at applying tourniquets on each other and on pieces of pipe.
For more information and to request training, visit www.stopthebleed.org.