If a mass causality situation occurs, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) staff can now help stop hemorrhagic bleeding and potentially save a life.

"Stop the Bleed isn't simply the slogan of this program; it is the goal," said Independent Duty Hospital Corpsman First Class Petty Officer James Williams. "If a mass causality situation occurs, Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point (NHCCP) staff can now help stop hemorrhagic bleeding and potentially save a life."

Williams, a 19-year veteran who recently completed his seventh deployment, spearheaded the campaign to bring the Stop the Bleed program to NHCCP located on Marine Corp Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.

"In the 19 years I've been in the Navy, we have seen increasing numbers of attacks not just on civilians, but also on our military bases as well, overseas and stateside," said Williams. "In today's world, we never know where or when a mass casualty can happen. It's better to be prepared for the worst and the Stop the Bleed kits will definitely help save lives if we ever have to use them."

According to the website http://www.bleedingcontrol.org/ , just a few months after the active shooter disaster on December 14, 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the Joint Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from Intentional Mass Casualty and Active Shooter Events was convened by the American College of Surgeons.

In collaboration with the medical community, the National Security Council, the U.S. military, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and governmental and nongovernmental emergency medical response organizations, the committee's recommendations were called the Hartford Consensus and their suggestion was all citizens should learn how to control bleeding in case of a mass casualty.

Fast forward to October 2015 and the Obama administration, in response to the Hartford Consensus' recommendations, rolled out the Stop the Bleed program based on medical advances made during wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Improved materials stocked in ground troops' first aid kits, and better first aid training meant more wounded service members survived the battlefield and returned home to the states. If soldiers on the battlefield could stop bleeding, why not make medical supplies and training available to civilians as well?

So how does it work?

Too often in many mass casualty events, bystanders will be on the scene before professional emergency responders. And since an injured person can quickly die from blood loss, bystanders who can stop that bleeding can save lives.

The Stop the Bleed program is designed around strategically placed lifesaving trauma kits. According to Joe Farland, NHCCP Emergency Manager and Anti-Terrorism officer, NHCCP created and stocked their own kits as a cost savings measure, and have stocked them alongside the clinic's 12 Automated External Defibrillator (AED) stations.

"We have two Stop the Bleed kits available at each AED station and one kit can treat up to four patients," said Farland. "Each kit includes four, 6 inch Emergency Trauma Dressings; four rolls of combat gauze; four Combat Application Tourniquets; one 7 1/4 inch trauma shear and four pairs of extra-large gloves."

"Our next step is ensuring all our staff, from our youngest corpsman to our most senior civilian, are trained on how to properly use the kits," Williams said. "Training is ongoing and we currently have 60 percent of our staff ready."

"Now that we have our kits in place, we are working with the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point Mission Assurance Working Group to train installation personnel on how to use the kits," said Farland. "The first unit to receive training will be the base fire department and emergency medical responders who can then in turn, train other units."

Farland also said that he and MCAS Cherry Point officials have met with the Crystal Coast Disaster Coalition, a group representing several eastern North Carolina counties who are also interested in beginning the program in their respective jurisdictions.

"The bottom line is the more people we can train to use Stop the Bleed kits, the more lives we can save," said Williams. "We hope and pray that we never experience an active shooter here at Cherry Point, but you never know when and where an attack is going to happen. The best recourse is to be prepared."

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Named after Medal of Honor recipient, Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class William D. Halyburton, the Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point provides high-quality patient care to more than 20,000 active-duty members and Department of Defense beneficiaries. In addition to outpatient surgical services, NHCCP
offers Medical Home Port (including family care and pediatrics), dermatology, internal medicine, orthopedics, physical therapy, mental health, pharmacy services, preventive medicine, aviation medicine and radiology to include MRIs.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point , visit http://www.navy.mil/.