Stop the Bleed

About Stop the Bleed^®

No matter how quickly emergency professionals respond, the individuals on-scene are best positioned to assist and potentially stop life-threatening blood loss. This is critical because a person who is bleeding profusely can die from blood loss within five minutes.

Inova Trauma Centers have been a part of the national Stop the Bleed^® campaign since 2016. We hold free courses that are open to the public. These courses are designed for non-clinical citizens who may find themselves at the scene of an emergency. Course attendees have enhanced their emergency preparedness by learning the difference between bleeding and life-threatening blood loss, and how to react to both.

The Stop the Bleed course includes hands-on practice with tourniquets and wound packing. Practicing these skills gives the learner a deeper understanding of what it means to Stop the Bleed, and the confidence that they can help someone in an emergency.

The national Stop the Bleed campaign began in 2015, due in part to a federal directive that emergency preparedness is a shared responsibility of the government, private and nonprofit sectors, and individual citizens. Stop the Bleed encourages and empowers bystanders to help in an emergency situation until professional help arrives.

Inova Trauma Center's Stop the Bleed instructors are trauma surgeons and nurses. The course is comprised of a visual presentation with hands-on practice to reinforce the information learned.