SAN ANTONIO – It has become clear that churches, schools and workplaces are not immune to mass casualty violence. However, in each of these situations and in everyday trauma, bystanders can save lives.
"I always wonder how I would respond, and I really don't know what my response would be other than the standard call 911," said Erin Cestero, sales manager of JB Goodwin Realtors.
"(It's) not something that was on my radar at all, and over the last few years, it’s kind of forced us to re-look at the way we anticipate. And so my feeling was we possibly could have an impact somewhere at some time," JB Goodwin Realtors President Reagan Greer said.
The San Antonio JB Goodwin Realtors office brought in the Stop the Bleed program. The White House and American College of Surgeons started the program after the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting.
The program is led by trauma faculty, such as the experts from UT Health San Antonio, who led Friday's training.
"This is a fairly straightforward intervention, so the more folks we can teach how to use it, the more lives we could potentially save," said Ramon Cestero, a trauma surgeon.
Cestero headed the training and explained how to control severe bleeding in multiple ways.
If the bleeding is on the arms or legs, a tourniquet can prolong life. Cestero taught employees to apply it above the wound and then tighten the strap as much as possible. He said to then twist the small bar until it's difficult to turn it anymore. Lock it in and close the strap.
If a pen is available, write down what time the tourniquet was put on so medics know how long the limb hasn't had blood flow.
In wounds in the groin or neck, a tourniquet cannot be used. In that case, Cestero said to take gauze, a T-shirt or a towel and pack the wound all the way until you can't pack it anymore. The bleeding should stop. Then take the rest of the material, place it over the packed wound and hold it there with both hands and apply pressure until medics arrive.
University Hospital offers monthly Stop the Bleed training sessions. To sign up, click here.