Program Will Train Students In Methods to Stop Bleeding

In a nod to the sad reality that shootings at the nation’s schools are far too prevalent, the U.S. government will award a $1.8 million grant to create a program to teach high school students proper bleeding-control techniques.

The goal of the program, called School-Age Trauma Training, is “to enhance a bystander’s ability to take decisive, lifesaving action to assist victims with traumatic injuries,” according to the Department of Homeland Security, which posted notice of the grant online last month.

“Similar to how students learn health education and driver’s education, they must learn proper bleeding-control techniques using commonly available materials,” according to the notice, “including how to use their hands, dressings and tourniquets.”

The grant notice was posted in July, and the program is being overseen by the department’s Science and Technology Directorate and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Independent school districts and nonprofit organizations are among the groups eligible for the grant, and they have until Aug. 27 to apply.

The development of the program could take about 36 months once a proposal is selected, John Verrico, a spokesman for the Science and Technology Directorate, said in an interview Monday. He said it was too early to say how the program would be rolled out and expanded to the rest of the country.

The grant to develop a program is not tied to any one school shooting, but comes at a time when there have been more than 250 deaths of students and teachers in the country’s schools since 2000, according to Homeland Security. The bleeding-control program is also meant to address providing immediate help during natural disasters, Verrico said.

The grant, initially reported Monday by The Young Turks, an online news show, is being publicized as states continue to struggle to address school shootings. This month, schools in Florida will welcome students back with more armed guards, fortified fences and heightened security, six months after one of the deadliest school shootings, in Parkland.

Some states allow districts to arm teachers and staff members, and active-shooter drills have become routine for administrators. In Illinois, firearms are prohibited on school campuses, but businesses have offered free concealed-carry courses to teachers.

Homeland Security asks that proposals include training on medical triage and mass casualty survival techniques, according to a statement of objectives.

The program would complement other resources that promote bleeding-control techniques.

The Stop the Bleed campaign, a national campaign by the Department of Homeland Security, encourages bystanders to act before emergency medical workers arrive. Some groups have based similar trainings on the campaign or started their own.

More than 1,000 people have attended a program put together by Ujimaa Medics, a grass-roots organization in Chicago that hosts workshops for residents on “urban emergency first response,” according to its website. It notes that five gunshot victims have been helped by the organization’s trainers and that the organization has eight trainers younger than 18.

Cathy Wilson, the outreach and injury prevention coordinator at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said in an interview Monday that she teaches at least one “Stop the Bleed” session a week. When she teaches high school students, she said, she mentions cases of active-shooter situations, but lets them know the training they get will be useful in everyday life. Learning bleeding-control techniques is another useful tool, like CPR, she said.

“We’re trying to empower people to be that immediate responder and take action,” she said.