Save a Life – Learn How to "Stop the Bleed"

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma.

You can help save a life by knowing how to stop severe bleeding for yourself and others. Learn more about the national Stop the Bleed campaign, and register for a free training below.

National Stop the Bleed Day

On May 23 2019,  National Stop the Bleed Day, Baystate Health and the Western MA Coalition for Stop the Bleed will offer free classes at eight different sites in western Massachusetts. The goal is to empower the public to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.

"The skills learned in a Stop the Bleed class will prepare you to help in events such as car crashes, industrial accidents, accidents in the home and workplace, where serious injuries place people at risk of death due to massive bleeding,” said Ida Konderwicz, Injury Prevention Coordinator.

May 23 Stop the Bleed Training Sites and Registration

Select a training site near you and email the listed contact to register:

Agawam Public Library, 750 Cooper St., Agawam, 4-5:30 pm, Katherine.Walles@baystatehealth.org
Baystate Medical Center, 759 Chestnut St., Chestnut Conference Room 2, Springfield, 9-11 am, Lou.Rios@baystatehealth.org
Berkshire Community College, 1350 West St., Susan B. Anthony Building Room G10, Pittsfield, 9-10 am, tdisilva@bhs1.org
Williams College, 26 Hopkins Hall Dr., Stetson Hall Mabbie Room, Williamstown, 1-2 pm, tdisilva@bhs1.org
Baystate Franklin Medical Center, 164 High St., Conference Room B&C, Greenfield, 2-4 pm, JaimeElla.LaPrade@baystatehealth.org
Holyoke Boys and Girls Club, 70 Nick Cosmos Way, Holyoke, 9-3 pm, Ida.Konderwicz@baystatehealth.org
Wilbraham YMCA, 45 Office Park, Wilbraham, 3-6 pm, msterling@wilbraham-ma.gov
UMass Police Department, Community Room, 585 East Pleasant St., Amherst, two classes offered from noon-1:30 pm or 5:30-7 pm, bkellogg@umass.edu

What You'll Learn in a "Stop the Bleed" Training

• How to apply a tourniquet
• The correct way to pack a wound
• How to apply pressure to stop the bleed.

Please wear loose, comfortable clothing to class. You'll be practicing skills that require working on your hands and bending, standing, and lifting.

Konderwicz noted that you don’t have to be a professional emergency responder to save someone’s life. “With the knowledge and skills learned in our Stop the Bleed course, you can administer simple medical care that will stop someone’s hemorrhaging.

Baystate Health is Leading the Way Locally

For the past year and a half, Western MA Coalition for Stop the Bleed and Baystate Medical Center’s Division of Trauma & Acute Care Surgery has led the way locally in training the public as part of the national “Stop the Bleed” campaign.

Since initiating the program at Baystate, over 2,600 people – construction workers, teachers and students, fire fighters, policemen, and many others – have gained the skills needed to save someone’s life who has sustained life threatening blood loss due to injury.

For information on future classes or to set up training at your school or business, email Konderwicz at Ida.Konderwicz@baystatehealth.org.