Tuesday, May 31st, the Winn Parish Medical Center presented the program STOP THE BLEED to the Kiwanis club. Presenters were Jacqua James, RN, Risk Management Compliance Officer and Medical Staff Coordinator along with Sabrina Kuhlmann, RN, Emergency Department Director and Clinical Nurse Supervisor.
In light of recent events in our country, this program is very important to teach people what to do when a person is bleeding severely. The first few minutes make the difference between life and death. We are talking here about bystanders, not emergency personnel. The first thing to check is that the person is awake and breathing. If they are then the first goal is to stop the bleeding. You do this by packing the wound with whatever you have (t-shirt, etc) and applying pressure with the heel of the hand and leaning on it until appropriate help arrives. If the bleeding doesn’t slow or stop then use a tourniquet. This is against what has been taught in the past but using a tourniquet is the right call. Once you have the tourniquet on you do not release it. Bleeding that is life threatening is squirting, spraying, and pouring out of the wound.
Sabrina Kuhlmann had tools that she used to demonstrate what was being said. Everyone received a booklet detailing what to do in case of a bleeding emergency.
A Rural Health Trauma Development is being formed which is a cooperative agreement between surrounding rural parishes. This means that if a trauma event occurs other parishes will respond to help with whatever is happening.
Mrs. James in response to a question spoke about the Winn Parish Rural Health clinic which is now located in the hospital facility. This provides more space for patients and staff.
