A new campaign aimed at teaching everyone how to stop bleeding and save lives in an emergency
What would you do if someone next to you were bleeding uncontrollably — from a car wreck or an on-the-job mishap, or even a mass casualty event such as the recent Fort Lauderdale Airport shootings? These kinds of injuries occur daily, and a badly injured person can die from blood loss and shock in minutes before a first responder can arrive. Armed with a little knowledge, a family member, coworker or even a bystander can be the difference between life and death.
University Health System, in partnership with the Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council and national organizations, is launching Stop the Bleed — a community-wide effort to train people how to control bleeding in an emergency. University Health System will begin offering free, one-hour classes on the first Monday of every month. The first class will be held from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, February 6 in the Cypress Room at University Hospital, 4502 Medical Drive.
“The goal is to turn bystanders into immediate responders,” said Dr. Ronald Stewart, chair of surgery at University Health System and UT Health San Antonio, who also chairs the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, which along with the White House and other professional organizations created the program in response to mass casualty events across the country.
Community organizations, churches, schools and businesses can also request a trainer to come to their location to teach the course to groups. These sessions can be requested online at StopTheBleedTx.org.
FOURTH ANNUAL COMMUNITY TRAUMA REPORT
University Health System also released its Fourth Annual Community Trauma Report on Thursday with the aim of highlighting major causes of serious injuries and trends in South Texas over a five-year period, using data from thousands of trauma patients seen at University Hospital.
University Hospital’s Level I trauma center treated 5,280 people— 3,938 adults and 1,342 children — in 2015, a number that was 14 percent higher than the previous year. Falls were the leading cause of injury among patients of all ages. The Spotlight section of this year’s report takes a closer look at how blood thinners worsen outcomes when elderly people fall. Pellet gun injuries among children, and unintentional shootings among people of all ages, also are examined.
Among the report’s other highlights:
Injuries to children
Car crashes — the rate (per 100,000) of children injured in car crashes in 2015 jumped by 37 percent from the previous year, after a slight dip in the rate in 2014. Over five years, car crash injuries involving children are up 34 percent.
Bicycle injuries — the bike injury rate for children has gone up nearly 300 percent from five years ago, with 44 children injured in 2015.
Animal bites — the rate of children injured by animal bites rose 230 percent between 2011 and 2015, when 47 children were bitten.
Pedestrian injuries — 64 children were hit by cars in 2015, with a rate that is 60 percent higher than five years earlier.
Injuries to adults
Car crashes — the car crash injury rate for adults rose 20 percent over a five-year period. Car crashes were the leading injury cause among adults ages 44 and younger.
Bicycle injuries — the rate of adults injured on bicycles has grown by 145 percent since 2011. Falls — the rate of adults injured in falls roughly doubled between 2011 and 2015.
Violence — the overall rate of injuries from violent causes rose 44 percent over the five-year period up to 2015, with the biggest increase among unarmed assaults.
The report can also be found online at: www.universityhealthsystem.com/~/media/files/pdf/about-us/public-notices-and-reports/2015-community-trauma-report.pdf
University Hospital is the premier Level 1 trauma center for a 22-county region of South and Central Texas, and the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center and burn program in the region. With its physician partners at UT Health San Antonio, University Hospital provides comprehensive, around-the-clock care for life-threatening injuries.
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