Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

The Stony Brook Student Nurses’ Association collaborated with Stony Brook University Emergency Management, Outreach, and Training on STOP THE BLEED®, a course that allowed nursing students to learn different strategies to recognize what life-threatening bleeding is and how to intervene in a community setting.

The event was held Nov. 15 in the Health Sciences Center lecture hall. Students volunteered their time to become certified to participate in future STOP THE BLEED® events for the university and the local community.

University Police and Emergency Management staff demonstrated the proper ways to stop bleeding by applying tourniquets, showing nursing students how to use commercial tourniquets provided in ambulances and schools, and how to use everyday objects, such as neck ties, rulers, pens, and branches if they’re out in the community. Different anatomic locations were identified as the highest risk of bleeding and how applying pressure and quickly packing deep wounds can save lives. 

Stop the bleed group

“Educating competent nurses is key to protecting the health of the public who may unexpectedly be involved in a sudden motor vehicle accident on the road or a boating accident around Long Island or other sudden tragedy at home,” said Annette Wysocki, dean of the School of Nursing.  “Because nurses are the largest group of healthcare providers, roughly three nurses for every physician, they are the providers that are most likely to be the first ones on the scene to act during an emergency. These workshops are important for our students so we can be sure they are prepared to be the expert clinicians we expect and might all need in the future to help when an unexpected emergency happens to us.”

Tania Prudencio Martinez, a senior nursing student and the Co-Breakthrough Into Nursing director for the Stony Brook Student Nurses’ Association, organized the event, which included 50 nursing students.

More than 1.5 million people have now been trained to STOP THE BLEED®, and the national campaign’s goal is to train 200 million. The purpose of the campaign is to better prepare the public to save lives if people nearby are severely bleeding.