STOP THE BLEED
A new campaign to raise public awareness
about life-threatening severe bleeding after an
accident has been launched this month with
the aim of educating Kiwis.
“Stop the Bleed New Zealand” aims to
educate people about how to best manage
a major bleed in the critical minutes before
emergency services are able to arrive. If an
artery is cut in an accident, it can result in
death in as little as three minutes so Stop the
Bleed NZ aims to help Kiwis learn to deal with
similar situations by providing immediate first
aid.
The campaign reflects a growing
understanding that dealing with major
external bleeding is vital when a person has
immediate life-threatening injuries.
Pip Cotterell, Product and Critical Standards
Manager at Pharmaco Emergency Care, one of
the backers of the campaign, says it’s essential
the public have the right training and tools
to manage a situation with potentially tragic
results:
“This is all about getting priorities right in
a life-threatening situation – people dying
from loss of blood is tragic, but what’s more
heartbreaking is people not knowing how to
save them.
“There are many common accidents that can
result in major bleeding such as kids crashing
through windows at home, to fishing and
boating accidents, work or DIY machinery,
road and even hunting accidents.
“And Kiwi lives are lost every year simply
because people are unaware of what to do
to stop the bleed for long enough to save a
person’s life.
“We are talking about major bleeding when
blood is spurting or pouring from a wound as
the heart pumps. With an average of only five
litres of blood in our bodies, bleeding like this
can lead to death very quickly. It’s traumatic
and highly stressful, so people need to
understand what steps to take straight away.”
The Stop the Bleed NZ campaign follows in
the footsteps of similar initiatives in the US
and Australia, where training programmes
include how to use a high-quality tourniquet,
a band placed around a limb that is tightened
to control bleeding by stopping blood flow to a
wound.
Dr Tony Smith, Medical Director of St John,
says New Zealand is taking the lead from
these countries and welcomes a focus on how
to provide first aid for major bleeding:
“If someone severs an artery the fastest
ambulance or helicopter isn’t always going to
get there in time to save their life – however,
anyone can help save that person’s life and
nine times out of ten it will be someone you
know, a colleague, friend or loved one.
“We see accidents where someone could
have been saved if the bleeding had been
controlled, but people need the knowledge
and ideally the right equipment nearby, such
as in a vehicle or building.
“We don’t have New Zealand stats but
international ones show that up to 20% of
people who have died from injuries could
have survived with quick bleeding control and
unfortunately every year we see deaths that
were preventable had people stopped the
external bleeding.
“In a nutshell, the key is putting full body-
weight pressure on the wound to stem the
blood flow and doing this for as long as
possible – that’s why we say “Push Hard, Don’t
Stop”.
“The two mistakes people make are not
applying enough pressure, and not pressing
for long enough. Use a bandage, item of
clothing or a cloth to push hard on the wound
and keep pushing.”
Currently, the use of tourniquets is not
routinely included in first aid training in New
Zealand but this is being reviewed: “this
change has happened overseas and it is
something we are discussing in New Zealand,”
he says.
Over the next year Stop the Bleed New
Zealand aims to grow the knowledge about
bleeding control and raise public awareness
about the key steps to take.
KIWI RIDER 91