American College of Surgeons and Congressman Mike Thompson Host a Stop the Bleed® Training Session for Congressional Staff

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), a member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, sponsored a Stop the Bleed training session for Congressional staff this morning. Surgeon members of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) instructed more than 75 people on how to stop potentially life-threatening bleeding in an injured person.

These Congressional staffers are now among the more than 124,000 people who have learned bleeding control techniques in order to become an active/immediate responder who can assist a bleeding victim at the site of wounding.

Each year, more than 180,000 people die from traumatic injuries sustained as a result of events including motor vehicle crashes, falls, industrial and farm accidents, natural disasters, and tragic mass casualty events like recent school shootings in Santa Fe, Tex., and Parkland, Fla. The most common preventable cause of death in these situations is the loss of too much blood in the minutes before trained immediate responders arrive.

Congressman Thompson asked ACS to facilitate the training because he recognizes that a person familiar with basic bleeding control techniques is better equipped to save a life.

"This training is essential to ensure bystanders can become responders in emergency situations with traumatic injuries. As Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, I want to ensure people have the knowledge and skills about how to respond and potentially save a life," said Congressman Thompson.

The ACS has been active in working with members of Congress and their staff to help disseminate Stop the Bleed training on Capitol Hill. To date, ACS has trained more than 18 members of Congress and more than 200 congressional staffers.

The effort to make Stop the Bleed training available to the public is driven by the goal to reduce or eliminate preventable death from bleeding, which is a priority for the ACS.

"On behalf of the American College of Surgeons, we're thankful to Congressman Thompson for highlighting the value of the Stop the Bleed program on Capitol Hill," ACS Executive Director David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, said. "As we work to bring the Stop the Bleed program to communities around the world, it's encouraging to see Congressional leaders and their staff becoming Stop the Bleed trained."

The ACS-led bleeding control course that was taught today is designed for individuals with no prior medical knowledge. It can be adapted to meet the needs of groups such as a Scout troop, local PTA, or community group. A Stop the Bleed course teaches participants how to use tools and techniques that were born on the battlefields of Vietnam and further reinforced during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program was developed by the Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events, with strong support from the Hartford Consensus and oversight from the ACS Committee on Trauma.

For more information about the Stop the Bleed program and to find a training course, visit www.bleedingcontrol.org.

BleedingControl.org is an initiative of the ACS and the Hartford Consensus and contains diagrams, news, videos, and other resources contributed by a variety of other private and nonprofit partners.

About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 80,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. For more information, visit www.facs.org.

About the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT)
The ACS COT was formed in 1922 and has put forth a continuous effort to improve care of injured patients in our society. Today trauma activities are administered through an 86-member committee overseeing a field force of more than 3,500 Fellows who are working to develop and implement meaningful programs for trauma care in local, regional, national, and international arenas. With programs such as its Bleeding Control Basic Course, the COT strives to improve the care of injured patients before, during, and after hospitalization.

About the Hartford Consensus
In April 2013, just a few months after the active shooter disaster at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, the Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events was convened under the leadership of Lenworth M. Jacobs, Jr., MD, MPH, FACS, by the American College of Surgeons (ACS)  in collaboration with the medical community and representatives from the federal government, the National Security Council, the U.S. military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and governmental and nongovernmental emergency medical response organizations, among others. The committee was formed to create a protocol for national policy to enhance survivability from active shooter and intentional mass casualty events. The committee's recommendations are called the Hartford Consensus. 

SOURCE American College of Surgeons