School districts, police departments, businesses and community members in southeastern Wisconsin are learning lifesaving skills – and it’s all thanks to philanthropy.
Throughout the year, Aurora Medical Center – Summit is providing free training sessions on how to control bleeding from severe injuries through the Stop the Bleed program. The sessions, held in in Waukesha, Jefferson, Dodge and Washington Counties, are being funded by a generous $15,000 donation from Aurora Medical Center – Summit Medical Staff and contributions from the hospital’s Trauma Fund, which is supported by philanthropy.
During the 90-minute sessions, certified trainers provide formal presentations followed by hands-on practice of applying direct pressure, packing a wound and using a tourniquet to stop bleeding. Each attendee will be offered a personal Stop the Bleed kit to take with them. Certain locations will be offered a wall mounted “station” unit.
“Unfortunately, bad things can happen to good people. Like life-saving CPR skills, knowing how to control bleeding from a severe injury is essential for everyone. An individual can bleed to death in as little as 5 minutes, which is why knowing how to manage life threatening bleeding before an ambulance may even arrive is vitally important,” shared Dr. Adam Schlichting, a critical care medicine specialist at Aurora Summit. “The American College of Surgeons Stop the Bleed program offered free of charge through Aurora Summit provides the community with education, training and hands-on experience to be able to intervene immediately for people with life-threatening bleeding.”
So far, the team has trained more than 100 people and placed seven wall units within the community. They’ve given out approximately 140 kits to individual participants.
“This is such an important skill to know and to have the training offered for the community,” shared Nathaniel Brown, who came from Madison to attend the training.
“This is really valuable. Having this access to training is very beneficial,” added another participant. “I got to increase my skillset and now know that I can be useful in a bad situation.”
How you can help
Aurora Medical Center – Summit relies on the generosity of donors to fund programs like Stop the Bleed. Because of philanthropy, training sessions and kits are provided to attendees and organizations at no cost. To support programs like these, make a gift today.