JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Staff from the Brooke Army Medical Center’s Trauma Clinic held "Stop the Bleed" training for a City of San Antonio councilmember and more than two dozen council staff members, along with San Antonio Police Department officers and personnel, during two sessions held at city facilities the last week of August.
“The number one cause of preventable death after an injury is bleeding,” said Army Lt. Col. Luke Hofmann, a BAMC trauma surgeon. “This training can be used anywhere.”
The training consisted of a presentation where attendees learned about the “ABCs of bleeding control” along with some hands-on practice in applying tourniquets, packing wounds and in applying pressure to stop bleeding at the site of an injury.
Councilwoman Dr. Adriana Rocha Garcia, who represents District Four, said she appreciates BAMC for encouraging staff members to share the training with members of the community.
“This training is one more step we can take to give our staff the opportunity to respond in the case of an emergency,” she said. “It’s an outstanding opportunity for us to learn from BAMC.”
BAMC is one of two Level One trauma centers in San Antonio and the only Level One trauma center in the Department of Defense. The staff provides trauma care to tens of thousands of military and civilian trauma patients each year.
Since 2017, the training team has provided more than 100 sessions of the Stop the Bleed training. Garcia said the training from the BAMC staff provided her and the other attendees with information and skills that could help them save lives. She will encourage other council members and community leaders to request this training.
“The goal is to train people to recognize when someone has life-threatening bleeding,” Hofmann explained. “Then, we want to make sure they know the steps to take to stop that bleeding.”
Hofmann said the training is available to members of the community. He said anyone with medical training, and base access, can call the Trauma Education and Prevention office at 210-916-1677 to apply to be an instructor.