24/October/2018 – Stop the Bleed Training

Colleton County Fire-Rescue, in cooperation with the Colleton County School District, began training teachers and other school staff on bleeding control and emergency measures Wednesday 24-October. The first training session was held at the Middle School after students had left for the day. The training primarily addresses bleeding control and the use of tourniquets for school staff members, since they would be the first on the scene of an emergency at a school facility. The first moments following a severe injury could be life threatening and it only makes sense to train those who would arrive first and close the gap while Firefighter-Paramedics are enroute to the scene. S.C. House Bill (H. 5003) mandates the placement of bleeding control (BCON) kits in all public schools and BCON training for all school staff.  Unfortunately, this bill was referred to committee in February and no action has been taken on it since.  Fire-Rescue and the Sheriff’s Office recently met with the school district regarding these initiatives. Collectively, we developed a plan to address the hazard and meet the bill’s requirements, should it become law. The school district acquired several BCON kits through a grant and are in the process of placing them in schools.  Fire-Rescue also obtained several kits through a separate grant and will be supplementing the school district’s kit placement throughout the county. BCON training for school district staff began yesterday at Colleton County Middle School.  All middle school staff were trained in tourniquet use and other bleeding control techniques.  The training was widely accepted by the staff, who repeatedly voiced praise for its value.  The training is not only useful in a mass causality event, but the skills can be used for a person injured at the school, at home or even if a teacher drives up on an auto accident.