Each May, the American Trauma Society, in collaboration with the Society of Trauma Nurses, promotes National Trauma Awareness Month. This May, National Trauma Awareness Month celebrates its 29th anniversary with the campaign slogan “Stop the Bleed.” This nationwide campaign has a goal to empower individuals to act quickly and save lives. Uncontrolled bleeding injuries can result from natural and manmade disasters to everyday accidents. If bleeding is severe, it can kill within minutes, potentially before trained responders can arrive. Through educating individuals with basic tools and information on the steps they can take in an emergency situation to stop life-threatening bleeding, lives can be saved. Research has shown that bystanders, with little or no medical training, can become heroic lifesavers. Similar to the use of CPR or automatic defibrillators, improving public awareness about how to stop severe bleeding and expanding personal and public access to Bleeding Control Kits can be the difference between life and death for an injured person.
Please click here for the Office of Homeland Security step-by-step instructional poster on how to Stop the Bleed. https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/images/oha/16_1011_stopthebleed_infographic_full.jpg
The Cooper Trauma Center offers many injury prevention programs that support this initiative as well as many more. To learn more, visit CooperHealth.org/Trauma and click on “Community Outreach and Injury Prevention Programs.”
