RELATED: Local help with complicated issues
With mass casualty incidents fresh on the minds of many, the Alameda Health System is helping to teach people--not just health professionals--techniques to stop the bleeding after someone has been seriously injured or shot.
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"They're pretty simple," explained Erica Peters Blaauw is a trauma nurse at Oakland's Highland Hospital. "The first and foremost thing is just applying direct pressure. So if you see a bleeding injury, you just want to get some gauze, get a t-shirt and apply some pressure. Another one is placing a tourniquet around an injured extremity."
The reality is when a bridge collapses or an active shooter is on the loose, the damage is often inflicted in a matter of seconds.
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As many as 35 percent of people who die before they get to a hospital...do so because of massive blood loss.
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"Whether it's a single event or mass casualties from a natural disaster or a man-made disaster, those techniques of stopping a massive hemorrhage will literally save a life," said Jim Morrissey, a paramedic who now works with the Alameda County Healthcare Services Agency and U.S. Homeland Security.
Bottom line--it's a well-trained citizen-responder who can make that difference...between life and death.
For more information, go to bleedingcontrol.org