(Washington Insider Magazine) -The course, which follows on from the ‘Stop The Bleed’ campaign, provides youngsters with practical information on tourniquet use, emergency-based communication, personal safety, and more.
The ‘Stop The Bleed’ campaign was launched by the White House back in 2015, inspired by horrific events such as 9/11 and the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. The campaign was designed to offer widespread education on how to fashion and apply tourniquets in emergency life-or-death scenarios.
The new ‘First Aid For Severe Trauma’ course, also known as FAST, is inspired by the work of Dr. Craig Goolsby, who served in the Air Force in Iraq as an emergency physician. During his service, Goolsby witnessed some traumatic injuries, with hundreds of patients being saved by tourniquets applied by other servicemen and women to prevent bleed outs.
On a recent web broadcast, Goolsby said: “The military put together a program to teach soldiers what to do and to equip them with very simple, easy-to-use equipment.
“As soon as somebody was injured, the soldiers could take action that was lifesaving, even before a medical person or an ambulance could get to them. And that meant that they could get to the hospital alive.”
From the ages of one to 44 in the United States, statistics show that traumatic injuries are the number one cause of death, with gun violence a continuing threat. Around 100 people die each day in the US due to gunshot wounds, with 15,000 children and teenagers shot and wounded per 12 months (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences).
The FAST course takes just 135 minutes and is aimed at children between the ages of nine and twelve, teaching them how to ‘check, call, and care’ – checking for safety, calling 911, and trying to prevent the bleeding.
Goolsby added: “It’s so beneficial to teach these lessons directly to high schooler students. Not only are they willing to learn new skills and help others when needed, but they also help spread this important information to friends, family and the next generation of Americans.”
