Measure may bring Stop the Bleed kits to Indiana schools
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Kits aimed at saving children’s lives could soon be headed to Indiana schools.
The bill backing Stop the Bleed kits is heading to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk.
Imagine, on the school playground, a child falls onto a sharp, jagged edge … or worse, a school shooting. There is bleeding.
“It not necessarily should be used just on active shootings, it’s used for any type of accident that causes a large laceration where someone could be bleeding extensively,” said, David Kelley, battalion chief of emergency medical services operations with the Indianapolis Fire Department.
“These kits and devices can help buy that person the extra time they need to get to a trauma center and save their lives,” Kelley said.
Inside the kit would be gauze, a tourniquet and other items.
“The most important aspect of it is the tourniquet itself,” Kelley said. “That’s what’s going to give the compression that you need to stop the bleeding.”
Under state Rep. Randy Frye‘s bill, schools would have to set up a Stop the Bleed program. The bill would give schools the option to put Stop the Bleed kits on walls inside schools so the tools are more readily for emergencies. The Greensburg Republican’s bill, which awaits the governor’s signature to become a law, requires at least five school employees be trained in how to use the kits.
“I think it needs to happen. It should happen,” Kelley said. “This is another measure for us to take care of our children and citizens.”
IFD’s Kelley said a basic Stop the Bleed kit costs from $13-$15. The more expensive ones, he said, cost from $39-$50.
“I think some training needs to happen,” Kelley said. “The more people that get trained on it, the better. It’s not something that you would easily forget to use. It’s something that’s easy to use, but training needs to take place.”
Frye said the Indiana Hospital Association has already offered to donate kits to get the program started.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security also offers Indiana organizations a way to request kits for Stop the Bleed training courses.