It takes one person to stop the flow of blood, but stopping the flow of the number one preventable cause of death after injury takes an entire movement.
The San José State University Police Department honored the national public awareness campaign and charitable organization Stop the Bleed with an event on Wednesday at the University Police South Campus building.
The purpose of the event was to train the general public to recognize and respond to bleeding after injury.
Sgt. Chris Zonsius of the San José State Police Depart, has an array of experiences including time with the armed for
Zonsius said the main reason he took over this position is because of his experience as active duty on the Coast Guard and as an Emergency Medical Technician in the Coast Guard.
Zonsius said the program is called “Tactical Combat Casualty Care Training,” a more in-depth version of Stop the Bleed.
While the Stop the Bleed event was not a combat-based event, the methods were discerned during actual combat situations in war.
He said the only difference is that in a combat situation, more often than not the injury would be because of an active shooter. He said in a situation on campus, a more ideal situation would be a car accident.
“We never know what could occur. In my tenure here in the University there has been many accidents, there have been many issues that have taken place around the campus,” Parking Services manager Eric Cross said. “There was an incident several years ago here at the (nearby) 7-Eleven store and our officers were there to try to assist and provide medical assistance. Unfortunately, I think that individual did not make it,” he said.
The seminars became significant after 20 children and eight adults lost their lives in a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. according to the Stop the Bleed website.
Stop the Bleed came from four different organizations, according to Zonsius: the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, the American College of the
Marines, the National Association of Medical Technicians and the Committee of Tactical Combat.
“The American Surgeons just noticed that there was a need to provide the ability to stop life-threatening bleeding at the scene,” Zonsius said. “They were basically looking at the CPR mode and how CPR has saved lives. We want to give people the opportunity to do the same kind of thing.”
“Our police department here are well-trained and they are very concerned and compassionate about community and to the students here on campus,” Cross said.
Executive Assistant for Chief of Police Rachel McConell said that although she isn’t sworn in as a police officer, the training at Stop the Bleeding could help her save a life.
“(The mission) is to educate people so that in their everyday lives, they can step into an emergency,” McConell said. “You can save a life, because it’s those few seconds that can make the difference.”
Chris Zonsius said there are three aspects of being able to help as a bystander.
First, Notify the police as soon as possible and put the line on the speaker phone.
Then, try to find the source of the bleeding, high volume bleeding or pools of blood.
Finally, try to find anything to compress the wound as soon as possible.He said another technique to stop a deep wound from bleeding is to pack the wound with gauze. He said this technique is fundamental if the wound is around the neck, armpits or a region where a device called a tourniquet cannot be used.
Zonsius said a tourniquet is a strap used to tie around bleeding limbs to manually cut off circulation to avoid complications after injury.
“I believe it benefits San José State students because this is something you are more than likely going to use when you’re off campus,” Zonsius said. “When you’re out on a Sunday or Saturday, having a good time with your friends and something happens – someone injures themselves on the bicycle or motorcycle or you run across a car accident – this could have you, your family or a friend in an emergency situation.”
Zonsius passed out tourniquets and gauze for everyone attending the event to practice with rubber-made limbs and wounds.
He said bystanders would be able to apply these procedures to everyone except the extremely young. He said in the event that a small child or adolescent needed to be attended to, an “Israeli Bandage,” a softer alternative to a tourniquet can be used.
According to the CanaPhem California website, the Israeli Bandage is a combat-proven alternative to a tourniquet. It is a multi-purpose elasticized bandage that is used to treat heavy and potentially life-threatening bleeding.
“I travel back and forth from Sacramento to San José every day, I’ve been witnessing a lot more accidents on the freeway," Cross said. “It should matter to any individual whether it is a student or not to have a good working knowledge of medical treatment or first-aid treatment for someone in the event that they’re injured.”
Cross said he travels back and forth from Sacramento to San José every day. He said everyone, not just students, should be prepared and have a good working knowledge of first aid and general medical procedure in the event it happens to someone she or he knows.
“We all have blood in our bodies, but none of us know what’s going to happen in the next thirty seconds in life,” Rachel McConell said. “So, If you’re a walking, breathing human being, you should do the best you can for your personal safety and the lives around you.”
