McLaren Port Huron, part of statewide McLaren Health Care and the only American College of Surgeons (ACS) verified trauma center serving St. Clair County, has donated 27 ‘Stop the Bleed’ emergency kits to local schools, courtesy of the hospital’s Trauma Services department.
A national program developed by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, ‘Stop the Bleed’ aims to empower the community with the knowledge and skills to intervene in serious and potentially life-threatening bleeding situations.
Multiple kits were provided to middle and high schools throughout St. Clair County, including Algonac, Capac, East China, Marysville, Memphis, Port Huron, and Yale, as well as the county Regional Educational Service Agency.
“Even what may be perceived as a small injury, can result in potential life-threatening bleeding.” said Melissa Cunningham, McLaren Port Huron Trauma Program Manager. “Uncontrolled bleeding is a medical emergency and can often require rapid intervention in the critical moments following the injury, sometimes before emergency services become available. The availability of kits like these and the proficiency to use them can help provide that crucial care, and it can make a real difference in the overall outcome of that situation. We are grateful to be in the position to make these kits available throughout the county.”
The Trauma Program at McLaren Port Huron secured a grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Systems of Care for the purchase of the $600 kits and provide them to the schools at no cost.
Each kit includes eight sets of gloves, tourniquets, and specialized bleeding-control gauze, and, as part of its commitment to the community, trauma professionals will provide training on how to properly use these items.
Uncontrolled bleeding is the leading cause of preventable death for trauma patients, responsible for 35 percent of pre-hospital, trauma-related deaths. And with four of every five patients sustaining injuries from a mass casualty event being transported to the hospital not by EMTs, the availability of ‘Stop the Bleed’ kits and the education of how to use them can result in saved lives.
Learn more about trauma care at McLaren Port Huron, an ACS-verified Level III Trauma Center, at mclaren.org/porthuron.
About McLaren Port Huron
McLaren Port Huron is a 186-bed non-profit hospital located in Port Huron, Michigan, with a strong history of providing quality, compassionate care to residents living in St. Clair and Sanilac counties. It has earned repeated recognition for both clinical excellence and patient safety from nationally renowned health care rating organizations. McLaren Port Huron provides a full range of services, including cardiovascular care, award-winning cancer services through the Karmanos Cancer Institute, orthopedic services, and general, bariatric and robotic-assisted surgeries. The hospital is nationally verified as a Level III Trauma Center and operates the busiest Emergency Department in St. Clair County. Other services include family birthing services and the only accredited sleep center in the region. In addition to its main campus in Port Huron, the hospital operates community health centers in Marysville, Yale, Lexington, and St. Clair. Learn more at mclaren.org/porthuron.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a $6.6 billion, fully integrated health care delivery system committed to quality, evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 13 hospitals in Michigan, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, a 490-member employed primary and specialty care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 732,838 lives in Michigan and Indiana, home health, infusion and hospice providers, pharmacy services, a clinical laboratory network and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Karmanos Cancer Institute, a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer centers in the U.S. McLaren has 28,000 full-, part-time and contracted employees and more than 113,000 network providers throughout Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Learn more at mclaren.org.