Doctor’s Medical Center Teaches High School Students How to ‘Stop the Bleed’
Local students in Stanislaus County, Calif., are receiving life-saving education through the ‘Stop the Bleed®’ community education program, provided by Doctors Medical Center’s Trauma Center.
“This program is extremely valuable because people can have uncontrolled bleeding anywhere at any time,” said Rena Bryant, Trauma Services Injury Prevention Coordinator for the Trauma Center at Doctors Medical Center (DMC). “It can happen in yard work accidents, or an open fracture at a school sporting event. It can also happen in certain occupations, such as construction or industrial jobs. So, it is very important to educate people so they can act quickly.”
In fact, uncontrolled bleeding after trauma is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. People can bleed to death in just five minutes after traumas from a vehicle collision, industrial or yard work accident, a fall or even sports injury. The Stop the Bleed program teaches people how to identify injuries and how to stop life-threatening bleeding.
Doctors Medical Center’s Trauma Center is providing Stop the Bleed trainings at local high schools to help students and staff learn how to save others in an emergency situation. During the course, DMC’s Stop the Bleed experts teach the students how to perform three quick techniques:
- Using their hands to apply pressure to a wound,
- How to pack a wound to control bleeding,
- How to correctly apply a tourniquet.
The first trainings of 2025 were at Pitman High School and Turlock High School, both in Turlock, California, as well as at Davis High School in Modesto. Students – as well as staff and teachers – were educated with hands-on workshops facilitated by teams of volunteer nurses. Teachers reported that the easy-to-understand language of the program and the methods utilizing mannequins were effective.
The Stop the Bleed training is part of a national campaign created by multiple national agencies following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012. It was determined that many could have survived had they not bled to death. Proper training can turn bystanders into first responders and lifesavers.
About Doctors Medical Center
Doctors Medical Center, part of the Central Valley Doctors Health System, is the largest full-care hospital between Stockton and Fresno, and from the Sierras to the San Francisco Bay Area. The facility has a 394-bed general acute care and a 67-bed inpatient psychiatric capacity. Doctors Medical Center is known for providing comprehensive inpatient, outpatient and emergency care. To learn more about Doctors Medical Center, located in Modesto, Calif., please visit www.DMC-Modesto.com.