Growing Number of State School Districts Are Adopting Stop the Bleed Kits and Training

Friday, December 1st, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) A growing number of Wisconsin school districts are adopting Stop the Bleed kits and training.

But, according to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, experts say the cost of the equipment and some skepticism continue to be barriers to getting the kits in schools.

The School District of the Menomonie Area is one of the latest in the state to add bleeding control kits, which include medical equipment like a tourniquet and gauze which can be used to treat someone who is severely bleeding.

Ramie McMahon, the district's student health services coordinator, said the supplies arrived at the district's schools this week. McMahon said the district first had a Stop the Bleed class for staff in 2018, but the pre-made kits designed for schools were too expensive.

She said Menomonie Fire Department Captain Matt Poliak raised money from local businesses to purchase the supplies this summer and the district has continued to work with the fire department to provide training on how to use the kits.

"We already had some staff training in August at our professional development day," McMahon said. "Matt has been going to the health classes at the high school, so all the freshmen are getting the Stop the Bleed class."

Tom Wohlleber, executive director of the Wisconsin School Safety Coordinators Association, said Stop the Bleed programs have been catching on at schools in the state in recent years, including in smaller, rural districts.

"Oftentimes the response is delayed because of the location of emergency responders related to the schools," he said. "If they experience a violent event and their school staff and potentially students have been trained on bleeding control, they can save some lives."

National efforts to improve bystander intervention during a bleeding emergency started in 2015, inspired in part by the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

But Wohlleber said schools need to be ready to respond to many types of accidents that could involve profuse bleeding, like an injury from woodworking equipment in shop class or a student falling.

He said it's taken time for many schools to come around to the program, not only because of the cost but also from not wanting to ask more of teachers.

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