Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital will offer bleeding-control classes on a monthly basis to community members who are interested in knowing what to do if they encounter someone with a bleeding emergency.
The hospital now has classes scheduled the first Tuesday of each month through May 7. Class size is limited and registration is required at samhealth.org/StopTheBleed or by phone toll free at 866-243-7747.
Stop the Bleed classes educate people on how to stop a life-threatening bleeding emergency. This can happen at home, at work, in a vehicle accident, at a mass casualty event or even in recreational settings. The class includes lessons on first aid techniques, including the use of pressure to control and stop a bleeding wound, as well as the safe use of a tourniquet.
Larry Buglino, DO, a general surgeon at the Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital will lead the classes with the hospital’s Trauma Coordinator Jean Benson, RN; and other trained hospital staff. All trainers are certified instructors through the American College of Surgeons (ACS).
“These skills are really just as important as being certified in CPR,” Buglino said.
The ACS is leading this effort nationwide in the wake of multiple mass shootings and other incidents where lives might have been saved if bystanders had the proper training to treat bleeding victims while waiting for first responders.