WICHITA –Wesley Medical Center Trauma Services Department will be offering free active shooter and bleeding control training classes March 26-30 in Wesley’s Cessna Conference Room located at 550 N. Hillside.
“Everyone needs to be prepared in the event of a mass shooting or other tragedy where people are injured,” said Gary Poindexter, Wesley’s EMS coordinator. “We are hoping to equip everyday people – bystanders – with the knowledge and tools they need to respond to a situation in which people are hurt.”
“Stop the Bleed” is a national campaign intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.
No matter how quick the arrival of professional emergency responders, bystanders always will be first on the scene and are best positioned to provide initial care by using proper tourniquet techniques and wound packing. A person who is bleeding can die from blood loss within five minutes; therefore, it is important to quickly stop the blood loss.
Wesley Medical Center Trauma Services is offering public education to teach the general community the basics in applying first-aid methods to control blood loss until help arrives. Attendees also will learn what to do in the event of an active shooter.
“The Stop the Bleed initiative is teaching people how to self-protect themselves and the importance of situational awareness,” said Tom Donnay, Wesley Healthcare’s emergency preparedness coordinator. “Situational awareness is very important when looking at how you can survive a mass casualty.”
Classes will be held:
- Monday, March 26: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 26: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
- Friday, March 30: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.
So far this year, Wesley has trained 1,400 teachers at 32 schools, 15 EMS agencies and 10 churches.
No registration is required. For groups that want to attend a class, please call Gary Poindexter, Wesley’s EMS coordinator, at (316) 962-3369, or Meghan Landwehr, Wesley’s trauma program manager, at (316) 962-3307to coordinate.
For more information about the “Stop the Bleed” initiative, please visit Bleeding Control.