Editor’s note:This article was reproduced with permission from National EMS Week.
Produced by the American College of American Physicians (ACEP), in partnership with the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), EMS Week is a campaign designed to celebrate, unite and inspire the people of EMS 365 days a year. 91ÊÓƵ is a proud strategic media partner of National EMS Week.
Learn more about the campaign at .
The STOP THE BLEED® Project’s sole purpose is to engage the public to learn about the STOP THE BLEED® campaign, one of the largest and fastest growing public health initiatives in the United States. The campaign is also spreading around the world with activity in over 140 countries.
The campaign is aimed at directly saving lives – through an effort to increase public awareness and encourage people and organizations across the United States to get trained with life-saving STOP THE BLEED® techniques so they can be ready to take action and stop everyday instances of life-threatening bleeding in their homes and communities.
From experience, we know that many people are shocked to find out some of the statistics about life threatening bleeding and response times, and that this often propels people into action:
- It only takes 3-5 minutes to die from blood loss, but it takes an average of 7-10 minutes for first responders to arrive on the scene.
- 35% of pre-hospital deaths are due to blood loss, and traumatic injury is the leading cause of death for people below age 46.
Ultimately, death from life-threatening bleeding is one of the most preventable, solvable, yet least talked about public health crises in the United States. Many lives that have been lost from traumatic bleeding could have been saved if someone at the scene knew how to stop bleeding before professional help arrived. Getting STOP THE BLEED® trained is one of the most powerful ways to ensure you and your loved ones are protected from any life-threatening bleeding emergency.
Every year, the Project develops a variety of programs to accomplish its mission, starting with STOP THE BLEED® Day, now in its seventh year.
This year’s slate of programs includes:
- STB Grant Program, which has awarded over $250,000 in equipment grants
- The Scholarship Program, available to high school and college students and which has awarded over $175,000 to date.
- The #raiseyourhand campaign, encouraging people across social media to share why they decided to raise their hand to get STOP THE BLEED® trained.
The application period for both the Grant and Scholarship programs will open during the first week of April and will run until May 31, 2024.
The Project’s vibrant also continues to grow with Ambassadors now in 75 countries. This program is designed for people who are passionate about the campaign, providing them with resources and tools to engage their communities and spread the word about the campaign.
STOP THE BLEED® Day takes place each year during EMS Week, reflecting the synergy the STOP THE BLEED® Project has with the EMS community.
This year, STOP THE BLEED® Day is on May 23, 2024 – please mark your calendar and plan to participate in Raise Your Hand, the popular social media campaign happening that day and throughout the month of May. It’s a great way to engage your community about STOP THE BLEED® – why it matters and what people can do.
The Project relies upon a growing number of partners to propel its work and we’re lucky to have more and more terrific organizations joining our effort, including the following:
- United States Department of Defense
- Stop the Bleed Coalition
- United States Department of Homeland Security
- American College of Surgeons
- The American Red Cross
- The American Heart Association
We encourage everyone to learn how to save someone’s life from blood loss.
We also encourage EMS professionals and organizations to help prepare and protect their communities by instructing members of the public on bleeding control techniques.
There are a number of ways that organizations involved in the campaign can participate to elevate their STOP THE BLEED® activities and support the overall growth of the campaign, including the following:
- Sponsor STOP THE BLEED® training classes during the month of May and/or on STOP THE BLEED® Day (May 23rd).
- Offer special product discounts in recognition of STOP THE BLEED® Month.
- Talk about STOP THE BLEED® Day/Month on your website and include a link to STOP THE BLEED® Project website. You can also provide a link to the Stop the Bleed Coalition’ training resources page so that people can find organizations qualified to teach STOP THE BLEED® classes as well as other training information.
- Donate kits or bleeding control equipment to the Stop the Bleed Coalition to be given as awards to schools as part of the STOP THE BLEED® Scholarship program.
- Put up posters at trade shows and other public events that provide information about Stop the Bleed Day and encourage people to get trained.
- Let us know what you are doing so we can promote it on the STOP THE BLEED® Project’s website and in our various newsletters and social media accounts. That includes sending us pictures of any events you sponsor.
- Participate in the #RaiseYourHand campaign throughout the month of May- share with us on social media why you decided to raise your hand and join the STOP THE BLEED® cause!
STOP THE BLEED® Scholarship and Grant Programs
The Scholarship and Grant programs will open for applications in April 2024 and will accept applications through May 31, 2024. The scholarship program has awarded over $175,000 to date. The grant program has awarded over $250,000 in equipment grants.
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