Massapequa Firefighters Get Trained In Lifesaving Techniques

The trauma team from NYU Winthrop Hospital provided training to more than 60 members of the North Massapequa Fire Department in the hospital’s Stop the Bleed program. Stop the Bleed, a national program initiated by the American College of Surgeons and supported by Homeland Security, encourages first responders and everyday citizens to become trained and empowered to assist in a bleeding emergency until professional medical aid arrives.

“The information that the NYU Winthrop trauma team shared with us provides the North Massapequa Fire Department one more skill in our efforts to save those who have been involved in a serious accident or incident and have suffered significant blood loss,” said North Massapequa Chief of Department, Fred Ferrara. “The Stop the Bleed program has provided us with invaluable training, and it will help us save lives.”

According to a National Academies of Science study, trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 46, resulting from car crashes, gun violence, mass casualty incidents and terrorism, as well as from home and work injuries. In many cases, the deaths are due to blood loss and are preventable. The Stop the Bleed program focuses on teaching tactics to recognize life-threatening bleeding and provide immediate response to control that bleeding. The Stop the Bleed program was the brainchild of a physician who examined the wounds among those killed in the Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut and determined that if pressure had been immediately applied to some wounds, some deaths would have been prevented.

Public or private organizations interested in more information about NYU Winthrop’s Stop the Bleed Program may contact Judy Jax at jjax@nyuwinthrop.org or telephone: 516-663-8708.

Photo: NYU Winthrop Hosptial