Eagle County Paramedic Services teams up with Vail Health to offer free life-saving training

Eagle County Paramedic Services recently issued the following press release on its Stop the Bleed partnership with Vail Health to offer free life-saving training for the community:

In a continuing effort to provide life-saving training for the community, Vail Health is partnering with Eagle County Paramedic Services to provide a free “Stop the Bleed” training on Thursday, May 19, from 4-5 p.m. at the EC Paramedics station in Edwards (1055 Edwards Village Blvd.) Participants register online, or by visiting the Stop the Bleed event page on VailHealth.org.

Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and call-to-action that focuses on educating the public about the vital steps to help save a life to empower them to take action in a bleeding emergency. Similar to how the general public learns and performs CPR, the public should learn proper bleeding control techniques, including how to use their hands, bandages and tourniquets. Victims can quickly die from uncontrolled bleeding within five to 10 minutes or less.

“In a community that focuses on recreation as much as we do, this training is vital as uncontrolled bleeding after injury is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma,” said Elizabeth Kruger, Trauma Program Manager at Vail Health. “People of all ages in our community are extremely active in outdoor pursuits. From skiing to hunting, there is a high percentage of lacerations and penetrating injuries, and this training can help save a life.”  

The ABCs of bleeding that the course teaches include: Alert – call 911; Bleeding – find the bleeding injury and Compress – apply presses to stop the bleeding. “Stop the Bleed” Training is available to everyone.

In partnership with Starting Hearts, Eagle County and Vail Health, official Stop the Bleed kits that include a C-A-T tourniquet, instructional booklet on bleeding control, QuikClot Bleeding Control Dressing, protective gloves and compression bandage have been installed in most public AED locations throughout the Eagle River Valley.

“Research has shown that bystanders – even with very little medical training – can become lifesavers,” said Jim Bradford, chief operating officer at Eagle County Paramedic Services. “Similar to the success of CPR or the use of an AED, improving public awareness about how to stop severe bleeding and expanding public access to bleeding control kits can be the difference between life and death for someone who’s injured.”