Trauma Response Training Offered By Local Hospitals
DENVER (CBS4)- Bystanders who took immediate action on injured concert goers in Las Vegas likely save lives because they were willing to help and had some basic knowledge of first aid.
Local hospitals say that training should be more widely available.
Denver Health Paramedic Division is hosting one of at least two hospitals offering those classes.
"A human being can bleed to death within five to 10 minutes and in some cases it's as little as three," Assistant Chief Justin Harper said.
During an active shooter situation, the response from medics is often delayed for safety concerns.
In Las Vegas, investigators say bullets rained down on concert goers for nearly nine minutes.
Golden resident Sara Lake was at the concert and saw the response from bystanders and just how pertinent it was.
"There was a gentleman with a pickup truck loading people up and taking them to the hospital, they were doing CPR, people were taking off their belts and making tourniquets," she said.
"We want to change this term from bystanders from standing by to immediate responders. You're there and you're helping," Harper said in response.
Harper says comparable to how we learn CPR, the public should also know how to recognize and stop severe bleeding.
In line with the Department of Homeland Security and the "Stop the Bleed" campaign, Denver Health and other area hospitals are now offering training.
"We need immediate responders... and that's you that's anybody that's at an event or in a public area or they see some who has had a traumatic event," Harper said.
The course covers everything from how to apply a turniquet to packing a wound. Harper says knowing how to properly treat severe bleeding can be the difference between life and death.
"The instincts that people have we can build on that."
Denver Health Paramedic Division is offering these hour-and-15-minute courses every day, from Oct. 23 through Oct. 27, from 5 to 6:15 p.m., at the Rita Bass Trauma EMS Education Institute at 190 W 6th Ave. Attendees will need to preregister online.
LINK: Preregistration for Trauma Response Training
St. Anthony Hospital is also hosting a class on Saturday, October 7 from 9:30 – 10:30
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.
