Medic One officials will present 'Stop the Bleed' program focused on early trauma treatment

When Alex Hribal roamed the halls in 2014 slashing at classmates and district employees with two large knives, first responders acted quickly and were able to ensure no lives were lost.

That was due in no small part to the emergency medical equipment they carry for treating trauma, including things like tourniquets and hemostatic gauze that can stanch a wound and stabilize a patient for transport to a local hospital.

Now local schools, churches and organizations are being trained in early treatment during a large-scale incident, and are being equipped with “Stop the Bleed” kits through an initiative by UPMC, the Copeland Regional Trauma Council, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians and others.

“Our regional council, the Westmoreland Ambulance Association, has created these and every service in the county has them now,” Lt. Mike Recklein said of the trauma kits aboard every ambulance at Murrysville Medic One.

Recklein will lead a March 6 presentation at the Murrysville-Export Rotary Club’s weekly meeting to showcase the kits and how they are used.

“It’s an initiative to promote ways to stop traumatic bleeding in mass-casualty incidents like the school stabbing, shootings and that sort of thing,” Recklein said. “I’ve always associated trauma with ‘broke or not broke.’ It’s not a medical decision where you’re figuring out if you can fix it — the only person who can fix a penetrating wound is a surgeon. But this can help ensure a person makes it to the surgeon.”

Recklein said he’s hosted the class at local churches, scout troops and other organizations.

“They provide a mock leg or arm, and people can practice applying a tourniquet and packing gauze into different wounds on the (mock) limb,” he said. “Through funding, they’ve been able to put the kits in schools, places of worship and other public places, and they’re locating them right next to the (automated external defibrillators).”

Recklein’s program at the Rotary will be at 6:30 p.m., March 6 at the Lamplighter, 6566 William Penn Highway in Salem Township. Completion includes a certification card.

For more, see Murrysville-ExportRotary.com. To schedule a training session or to find out more about the Stop the Bleed kits, email stopthebleedtoday@upmc.edu.