The mass shooting in Las Vegas is focusing public attention on the fact that in an emergency, a victim’s survival could depend on someone with no medical training.
58 people died and more than 500 were wounded when 64-year-old Stephen Paddock opened fire on an outdoor country music concert from his room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel.
Trauma personnel on the scene said the death toll would have been much higher if other concertgoers hadn’t acted immediately to keep people from bleeding out.
Jacksonville trauma surgeon, Dr. David Yorkgitis says uncontrolled bleeding kills a lot of trauma victims before they can get to a hospital. “We have to work with the community, not only the professionals, EMS, but the lay public to turn them into immediate responders,” said Yorkgitis.
“So far, I’ve treated 6-patients in Jacksonville that were victims of violence that had a tourniquet in place that saved their life, placed by EMS, police or lay public,” he added.
Yorkgitis says an immediate response is necessary in emergency situations and the person standing next to you may well be the one who saves your life.
A national program called STOP THE BLEED teaches people on the scene of an accident or other tragedy how to save lives by preventing massive blood loss.
Training is available in Jacksonville through U-F Health.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
