Roy Exum
My Easter Week prayer is that you’ll never need to use what I believe every single soul really needs to know. My ego aside, I hope you will share two words with every person you know, whether in kindergarten or in a university’s graduate school, be it at lunch with friends this afternoon or in your Bible study – APPLY PRESSURE. The way you stop bleeding is to apply direct pressure on the site as hard as you can and keep it there – no matter what – until the ambulance EMT tells you to stop.
Over lunch last week I admitted to a close friend -- a trauma surgeon – that I would have no earthly idea what to do it if I came upon a mass shooting. Ever since I researched the St. Valentine’s Day massacre at the high school in Parkland, Fla., I have learned more and more about “The Golden Hour,” that precious time from when tragedy first strikes until we can get the victims professional aid and to the emergency room. Each of us must vow to make every second count, be it on the side of an Interstate or, dear God forbid, a school like Sandy Hook Elementary.
On February 14, 2018 a mentally-deranged former student, Nikolas Cruz, began firing an assault rifle and in the next six minutes he killed 17 people, wounded 17 more, and then dropped the weapon. He mingled in with other fleeing students and is believed to have left the building … get this … four minutes before the first police entered the building. In any unaided 10 minutes, a gunshot victim can lose a lot of blood.
We know each year more than half a million people bleed to death following traffic accidents, gunshot wounds, and other severe trauma. The American College of Surgeons tells us that at least 30,000 of those deaths could have been prevented if somebody had been able to simply stop the bleeding.
Whoa … this is to point no blame. The police can’t just storm a mass shooting scene; they must establish a perimeter and follow a commander’s instruction – the first rule of response is that an officer can help no one if he too is a victim. On the other hand, a student or a teacher in the same classroom can render aid immediately.
In fact, the most common cause of preventable death in mass casualty events is exsanguination (loss of blood.) And according to BleedingControl.org, there will be 14 classes taught in Tennessee this Saturday (March 31) on what will be the first-ever National ‘Stop The Bleed Day.’ (No classes are nearby but, don’t worry … by this time next year Chattanooga and north Georgia will “most definitely” be in the loop.)
This is crucial for you to know – in a mass shooting, the one person who has the best chance of saving your life “is standing right next to you.” There are 3,400 students who attend Marjory Douglas High School – what if a bunch of them knew to apply direct pressure right on the very site of a bullet wound? No one can answer that but we’ll all agree a wounded schoolmate may have had a better chance if, dear Lord, we only knew what to do.
The trick is in the seconds – don’t worry about a sterile piece of gauze or washing your hands. Please be quick. Use your tee-shirt, a paper towel. Worry about germs later. If the victim isn’t breathing, use mouth-to-mouth anyway. If it is a chest wound and the lungs are desperately ‘sucking air,’ use a piece of tape or the back of your hand to close the wound. In most instances, victims were shot multiple times – the more hands, the more help. We can do this. We can save lives.
This from the BleedingControl.org website:
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ENSURE YOUR SAFETY
* -- Before you offer any help, you must ensure your own safety!
* -- If you become injured, you will not be able to help the victim.
* -- Provide care to the injured person if the scene is safe for you to do so.
* -- If, at any time, your safety is threatened, attempt to remove yourself (and the victim if possible) from danger and find a safe location.
IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A TRAUMA KIT:
* -- Apply direct pressure on the wound (Cover the wound with a clean cloth and apply pressure by pushing directly on it with both hands)
* -- Take any clean cloth (for example, a shirt) and cover the wound.
* -- If the wound is large and deep, try to “stuff” the cloth down into the wound.
* -- Apply continuous pressure with both hands directly on top of the bleeding wound.
* -- Push down as hard as you can.
* -- Hold pressure to stop bleeding. Continue pressure until relieved by medical responders.
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THE HAMILTON COUNTY School Board should mandate that every employee of the Department of Education must take a one-hour course in “Bleeding Control.” Don’t worry that Miss Mattux is in her 60s or that you wouldn’t let the baseball coach put his mitts on you. This is about saving lives. Direct Supt. Johnson to contact BleedingControl.org and “make it happen.” Invite the private schools – that’s all about a different kind of class.
Area churches, the Rotary Club … any group can arrange classes and they are free.
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* -- “It is said that blood is thicker than water. It is what joins us, binds us, curses us...” – Barnabas
* -- “Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood... will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.” -- Indira Gandhi
* -- “Peace, above all things, is to be desired, but blood must sometimes be spilled to obtain it on equable and lasting term.” -- Andrew Jackson
* -- “The Blood You Donate Gives Someone Another Chance At Life. One Day That Someone May Be A Close Relative, A Friend, A Loved One—Or Even You.” – Redcrossblood.org
* -- “The best blood will at some time get into a fool or a mosquito.” – Austin O’Malley
* -- “I think you should donate some blood … all of it.” – An ex-wife.
* -- “My blood type is glitter.” – says her name is Darlene.
royexum@aol.com