Through STOP THE BLEED® instruction, participants gain the ability to recognize life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively. Through three simple techniques—applying direct pressure, packing a wound, or applying a tourniquet—anyone can become an immediate responder and potentially be the difference between life and death for someone who is bleeding.
"New Amsterdam" star Ryan Eggold sets the scene for providing "information on how to stop a bleed when you don't have access to a medical professional," while "Good Sam's" Sophia Bush begins the narration for the first technique before they hand off the other sequence of instructions to their costars.
"This PSA is going to help save lives because more people will be aware of the simple steps they can take to address uncontrolled bleeding. We are extremely grateful to these well-known television personalities for raising the profile of these critical skills, especially as we all work to support the people of Ukraine," said Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, ACS Executive Director. "Anything that can be done to stop bleeding will give an injured person a better chance of survival. Sharing this message broadly, particularly with Ukrainian subtitles, is essential right now. As people view the message, they will realize these skills can be learned quickly by anyone, whether here in the U.S., or anywhere in the world."
Other medical organizations supporting the PSA include the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Heart Association, Trauma Center Association of American, Children's Hospital Association, Stop the Bleed Coalition, and Stop the Bleed Education Consortium.
This PSA is another concerted effort to get STOP THE BLEED® training to people in Ukraine. Roxolana Horbowyj, MD, FACS, a Philadelphia-based surgeon, has been teaching STOP THE BLEED® directly to people in Ukraine via Zoom-based training since late February. Dr. Horbowyj has seen the number of attendees in her courses rise as the war conditions have worsened, creating a pressing need for disseminating this information.
"We know bleeding is the foremost reason that injured people die. It's very much our belief that this training can save lives in Ukraine, which is why we're doing this," said Dr. Horbowyj in a recent article in The Independent.
STOP THE BLEED® was launched in October of 2015 by the White House, with a call to action to begin training more people to become immediate responders during a bleeding emergency until professional help arrives on the scene. The ACS STOP THE BLEED® program is operated under a licensing agreement granted by the Department of Defense.
The ACS estimates that to date nearly 2 million people have received STOP THE BLEED® training. To find a training course online or in person visit: www.stopthebleed.org
