OCEAN VIEW, Del.- A serious injury can happen at anytime, so first responders along the coast are making sure they're ready for any situation. First responders learned the importance of applying a tourniquet. Studies show that a person can bleed out within three minutes of a serious injury so they want to make sure they get to the scene as quickly as possible and apply the tourniquet so they can stop the bleed. When it comes to saving lives, time is of the essence. Michael Quick, a Training Coordinator for North American Rescue said, "There use to be a statement called the golden hour, which has come down to the platinum 15 minutes which is if we can control some serious trauma problems within a couple minutes, the chances to save lives in the community just over exceeds expectations." So first responders took a day to learn more about trauma care from a group called North American Rescue. The Ocean View Police Department says that when it comes to saving lives, it's a joint effort. Chief Kenneth McLaughlin, with the Ocean View Police Department said, "So we're working side by side with out EMTs really on a daily or weekly basis so we're out there quite a bit, often times we can be faster to the scene." Officers, and EMTs say in light of recently trauma events like the one that Corporal Keith Heacook lost his life to, they wanted to be ready for any situation. Police and others practiced by applying tourniquets to themselves over and over again to make sure it was done properly. North American Rescue says an incident can happen anywhere at anytime. Quick said, "Think about how many people in this community drive, simple care accidents people now as cars get lighter people driver faster and this can relate to simple things such as a fall from a ladder, look at some of the houses around here, the wind you have. You are right next to the ocean, a natural disaster." Saving lives is not just for emergency personnel, sometimes the everyday person might need to jump into action until more help arrives, so EMTs say it's better to be safe than sorry. Andrew Vickers, with Sussex County EMS said, "We also reach out the the public for stop the bleed campaigns and tourniquet application, wound packing applications so that the general person in public is also able to treat trauma." So how do you know that the tourniquet is actually working? Well first thing first, it's going to hurt, second thing you're going to notice the bleeding has stopped, and third thing you're going to have no pulse down away from the wound.
First Responders Learn More About the Importance of Trauma Care and Tourniquets
