SAN ANTONIO – School districts across Texas are training certain employees on how to stop the bleed as required by a new state law, House Bill 496.
HB 496, which went into effect at the beginning of this year, requires independent school districts and charter schools to place bleeding control kits in schools and train certain staff members on how to stop the bleed.
Districts are also required to offer stop the bleed training to students in seventh grade and above, but students aren’t required to take it.
University Health System hosted a stop the bleed training at Medina Valley Independent School District on Monday morning. Employees learned how to pack a wound, hold direct pressure and how to use a tourniquet.
Understand: Ghost Guns are untraceable, legal
“Uncontrolled bleeding is preventable, and so anybody can stop bleeding. So what we want to do is to teach all the citizens of San Antonio, Bexar County and the surrounding counties how to stop the bleed,” said Tracy Cotner-Pouncy, director of trauma services at University Hospital.
At Medina Valley ISD, the district’s bleeding control kits include gloves, tourniquets and many more items. They are located around the district’s defibrillator machines, and a secondary unit is in the nurses’ to-go bags.
Employees at several other districts, including Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, Fort Sam ISD, Medina ISD, Southwest ISD, Southside ISD, and Northside ISD, have been trained.
Northside ISD is also making changes. The district sent KSAT the following statement:
“Northside ISD is addressing the HB496 requirements as follows:
1) Bleeding Kits have been provided to all elementary campuses and placed in AED cabinets and additional locations deemed high risk/strategic by campus administration and school nurse. Multi-kit stations have been placed in all secondary campus nurses clinics and kits have been placed in AED cabinets and additional locations deemed high risk/strategic by campus administration and school nurse. Additionally, other district facilities (including athletic facilities) will have kits located on site.
2) Training has been provided to school nurses, police officers, and PE teachers. Training is in process for our after-school Learning Tree staff members - with several hundred already completed. Our District Safety Officer, Health Services Director, and Assistant Director as well as some additional police officers and school nurses have been trained as Stop the Bleed Trainers. NISD has a current partnership with University Health to provide/assist with training sessions.
3) Proposed “next steps” include the training of campus administrators, athletics staff, identified CATE teachers, and counselors. After school training opportunities for interested students and staff members at secondary campuses will be offered. Logistics for these sessions are being planned. And, consideration is being given to expanding these offerings to department and elementary campus staff.”