This summer, twenty-two Oakland and San Leandro high school students enrolled in HealthPATH’s Health Excellence & Academic Leadership (HEAL) program learned how they can save lives in a bleeding emergency by participating in Stop the Bleed (STB) training on the 澳门新葡京 Chan Highland Hospital Campus (WCHHC).
“Everyone is a first responder if we’re the first ones at an accident scene,” said Stefania Kaplanes, community injury prevention coordinator in the trauma department, as she addressed the students. “At home, at school or out in the community, you may be the first person to respond to an incident before the paramedics can arrive, and by learning a few critical skills you can make the difference between life and death for someone.”
Hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable trauma death. It is estimated that as many as one in five trauma deaths are preventable through the use of bleeding control techniques.
Kaplanes along with her colleagues Stephanie Belton, RN, trauma program manager and Gail Imamura, RN, trauma performance improvement coordinator took the students through a series of techniques including how to use their hands to apply pressure to a wound, how to pack a wound to control bleeding and how to correctly apply a tourniquet.
“I didn’t know, what to expect but taking this class gave me more confidence to act in an emergency,” shared Sandy Pham, a senior at Oakland High School. “I feel pretty good that the skills I learned today, along with a little practice could help save a life in my community.” Pham has her sights set on studying to become an oncologist.
Jose Uribe, a senior at Oakland Unity High School agrees, “I now understand the importance of immediate action during emergencies and I feel prepared to be a first responder if needed.” Uribe is the first in his family to pursue a career in medicine and ultimately would like to be an anesthesiologist and practice at Highland Hospital.
Like Pham and Uribe, Olayemi Arimoro, a senior at Madison Park Academy is just beginning to explore her future career in medicine and found Stop the Bleed training an important skill to have for everyone. “There are a lot of dangerous situations, whether it’s a shooting or a car accident, and before this training I didn’t think there would be anything I could do in an urgent situation, but now I feel I can.”
At the end of the class, each student received a STB certificate of completion and information on how to make their own STB kits for home. In addition, five lucky students were selected at random to receive a STB kit that includes two different types of tourniquets, gauze and brochure gifted by Alameda County Emergency Medical Services.
For more information on how to schedule Stop the Bleed training for your department, community group or local school, please contact Stefania Kaplanes at skaplanes@e4academia.net