Physician assistant department trains students to Stop the Bleed

Faculty from the department of physician assistant studies trained clinical students how to take action to help save lives at trauma scenes before emergency medical responders arrive. 

The aim of the March 29 Stop the Bleed training was to prepare bystanders to be immediate responders by equipping them with interventions they can use to help people injured in high-risk scenarios, such as serious car accidents or attacks of violence. 

"People need to be able to see something and do something," said Roland Paquette, MPAS, PA-C, assistant professor. He explained that students aren't typically trained on how to respond to the kind of emerging scenarios the training covered. 

Faculty showed the 47 students how to make tourniquets and pressure dressing from torn T-shirts to control bleeding, as well as how to protect airways, maintain temperature and perform other interventions. 

Half of the students surveyed after the training indicated they were interested in teaching others what they had learned, Paquette said. He said he hopes they will do just that, leading to an ever-widening pool of trained lay responders. 

The training was held just two days before National Stop the Bleed Day. 

Uncontrolled bleeding is the most common cause of preventable trauma death, according to Stop the Bleed, a national campaign initiated by the White House.