Partnerships Help Bring 100 Stop the Bleed Kits/Training to Onslow County Schools

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Molina | LCDR Erik Brink, Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune's Trauma Medical Director, speaks during a press event Aug. 7, 2019, at Swansboro High School where 100 Stop the Bleed kits, purchased through a grant received by Onlsow County Health Department, were presented.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, UNITED STATES

08.07.2019

Story by NMCCL Public Affairs 

Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune

Anyone can save a life during a traumatic event and Onslow County Schools (OSC) are prepared to assist those potential lifesavers with a recent donation of 100 Stop the Bleed (STB) Kits.
Those kits, purchased through a grant received by the Onslow County Health Department (OCHD), were presented at a press event at Swansboro High School Aug. 7, 2019.
Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune (NMCCL), OCS, OCHD and Onslow County Emergency Services (OCES) gathered to celebrate to their partnership in helping bring the Stop the Bleed kits to the schools.
For the last 18 months, NMCCL staff has been teaching the hour-long STB courses that educate participants on tourniquet application and wound care techniques that could be critical to saving the life of a peer during an emergency.
The STB kits allow those trained to provide the life-saving skills during a traumatic event.
“We are honored to partner with Onslow County Schools and the Health Department, to bring these programs to schools, to the hospitals, to the community, to EMS programs, to community colleges. Wherever we can find public attention,” said LCDR Erik Brink, Trauma Medical Director. “To draw attention to the fact that we can save lives. If you can stop the bleed and get them to me [at the Trauma Center], we can save lives.”
The STB Campaign focuses on enabling citizens to become first responders instead of bystanders during a mass casualty situation.
Bleeding control education, with the help of the STB kits, takes life-saving attempts during situations like those peppering national news headlines of late from the basic reflex of doing CPR, and equips people with skills needed to care for the injury appropriately.
“When we look and review some of these mass casualties, we look at the scenes and the carnage afterward, we see people doing what they know best; CPR. What we’re finding is the high casualty rates are not necessarily from heart issues or lung issues. These are extremity injuries; injuries that can be controlled through bleeding [control],” said Brink. “The crowds, the first responders, or even the initial people on the scene simply don’t understand is that simply compressing or stopping the bleed can save lives.”
OCES has been assisting NMCCL with sharing STB trainings throughout Eastern North Carolina since 2018, explained Dave Grovdahl, OCES Division Officer.
“We respond to all trauma calls in the county. That’s a little over 7,500 times a year; 7,500 times a year there are opportunities for bleeding control, for tourniquets, for other life-saving maneuvers to be done. Stop the Bleed has been proven across the country,” said Grovdahl. “We believe it is the responsibility of EMS to educate our community on methods they can do in order to help their fellow man.”
According to Brent Anderson, OCS Executive Director of Community Affairs, staff and faculty from eight schools within Onslow County have been STB trained as well as every nurse within the district as well.
At any given time, at least one STB trained staff member is present on every Onslow County school campus.
“Each school has staff trained as first responders to deal with medical emergencies. This is going to be another tool that they can add to their kit in the event that we do have a situation on campus that results in a traumatic injury that results in blood loss,” said Anderson. “This is a great opportunity for our staff to learn techniques to be able to provide that first line of defense until EMS can arrive. Hopefully we don’t have an event like this, but we need to be prepared. We prepare for all kinds of situations within the schools.”
All 100 kits will be installed in schools across the county alongside other medical equipment such as first aid kits, AEDs and fire extinguishers, to allow for quick access in the event of an emergency.
Training for teachers and staff will continue with a goal of having every person within the district, as well as Onslow County as a whole, trained to STB in the future.
“Anytime we can put medical equipment in an area, train our staff and partner with the school system is a benefit. We want our kids to have a safe environment and being able to do this means we are prepared in the event of an emergency,” said Grovdahl. “Our goal is 0 preventable deaths. With Stop the Bleed, like CPR, the person there in the moment is going to be the one to save the life.”
NMCCL will continue to collaborate with OCES to teach STB courses.
“It can [a mass casualty] happen anywhere, on any road, at any time. This campaign is about saving those lives. It is about buying us [Trauma team] time,” said Brink. “We are very honored to be a part of this and to be teaching these courses.”
To participate in a STB course, visit www.bleedingcontrol.org to find the nearest class.

• Date Taken: 08.07.2019
• Date Posted: 08.09.2019 12:23
• Story ID: 335309
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US