ACS Partners with NDMS to Deliver Record-Breaking STOP THE BLEED Training

The US Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Strategic Response and the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) partnered with the ACS Committee on Trauma to deliver the largest single STOP THE BLEED^® (STB) class on record. 675 NDMS responders were trained over four sessions in one morning at the 2022 NDMS Training Summit held at the Indianapolis Convention Center, IN, in August 2022. 

This STB course was unique in both scope and design. Instructors recruited from trauma centers in and around Indianapolis worked collaboratively with the ACS to teach both didactic and hands-on STB skills to the assembled NDMS responders. It was the largest number of STB students to be fully trained at one time since the program was developed. The collaborative method for delivering STB training was developed specifically to address the stated needs of the NDMS teams; however, the model can be adapted and modified by any organization wanting to train a larger group of students simultaneously. The number of instructors required was driven by the suggested 1:10 instructor/student ratio recommended by the ACS for teaching an STB class. This ratio is important to maintain the ability of students to interact with instructors during the hands-on skills practice.

Most trauma centers offer STB training, and the pool of additional instructors in a particular region may allow for similar expansion to accommodate larger student groups. The ACS maintains lists of STB instructors and can help to coordinate similar efforts.

For more information or assistance coordinating a large-scale STB course, contact stopthebleed@facs.org.

As of the end of 2022, the ACS has trained more than 2.5 million students to STOP THE BLEED. For more information about this life-saving program, visit stopthebleed.org.