Students learn how to Stop the Bleed
UIC Nursing student Michael Solomon twists a tourniquet on the arm of a fellow student.
"Does it hurt?" he asks.
She shakes her head no, and he turns the rod again.
In this case--unlike in many nursing situations--he wants the answer to be 'yes,' because that would be a good sign that he's tightened the tourniquet enough to stop a life-threatening bleed.
"It's going to hurt a lot," said Rocco Wlodarek, a certified emergency first responder who helped to conduct the training. "Don't be gentle. You're not going to hurt anything right now."
The students were taking part in a "Stop the Bleed" training, a national initiative founded by the American College of Surgeons and the Hartford Consensus to teach bleeding-control techniques to the public. In the face of a bleeding emergency, an active shooter situation, or an explosion, anyone at the scene can act as a first-responder if they know what to do, according to the website bleedingcontrol.org.
"In 2018, trauma is an epidemic," Wlodarek said. "Mass casualty incidents are increasing. The actions of individuals at the scene can have enormous impact on survivability."
Student Nurses for Social Justice (SNSJ), a new student group at UIC, organized the training that was attended by 15 nursing students.
"The idea is that bleeding control should be taught in the same way that CPR is taught," said Solomon, president of SNSJ. "That was very intriguing to me. It's always great to get students involved in a practical way--in a way they can get their hands on--and get out into community."
Kevin Chow, a surgery resident at the University of Illinois Hospital who led the training, said he's focused on "training the trainers"--health professions students and practitioners who can then teach the skills to members of the public.
"Once we train other doctors, other nurses, medical students, nursing students, [then] they can go out into the community and teach other people," said Chow. "These are the skills that save lives. They're very basic. You don't need much medical knowledge to act on these skills."
After a tutorial on how to identify a life-threatening bleed, Chow brought out artificial limbs so the students could practice packing wounds with gauze and applying tourniquets.
"I've never really messed around with a tourniquet," said Jessica Schuster, a master's degree student. "Unfortunately, in the world we live in today, I thought this was probably good information to know."
Erin Wright, also a master's degree student who was formerly a teacher, said she is hoping to bring the training to community organizations with which she works.
"I think it's helpful to learn actionable things you can do in situations of violence," she said.