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BEMUS POINT, NY (WNY News Now) – Before one group of Chautauqua County educators returned to the classroom this fall, they took part in what could be a life saving training to prepare them for the year.
“You never know if it’s a kid falls down in the gym and something happens or there’s an accident in shop. We wanted to make sure we can provide these teachers every opportunity, every bit of training so in that event of an emergency happens, they can buy us time,” explains Josh Schauman, Deputy Sheriff and Chautauqua County EMS Coordinator.
Teachers at Maple Grove High School took part in the ‘Stop the Bleed’ program, which aims to grant the non-medically trained tools to recognize life-threatening bleeding, and intervene effectively.
“We always start with a basic Powerpoint presentation where we introduce the topics, let them know what they’re in for,” says Schauman. “Because a lot of people, they’re not into the medical stuff. Maybe they don’t know what we’re all about, what the ‘Stop the Bleed’ program is. We gotta introduce it first. Once we do that, we then take them through two different sets.”
Teachers learned first-hand how to effectively pack a wound, and how to properly apply a tourniquet.
“Being able to do it to a coworker is great. We can kinda use those two hands, we can make sure the learning process is as easy as possible. It’s not until usually when they get it on themselves that they start realizing a little bit deeper the pieces of that. That they can be a little bit uncomfortable, they can cause discomfort. But also the amount of force that’s needed sometimes to get through the muscle tissues to get enough compressions to effectively stop the bleed,” says Schauman.
EMS officials believe having ‘Stop the Bleed’ kits in public places, the same way AED’s are, would also be a positive step forward.
“The engagement was phenomenal, and understanding the little things that we can do as educators to take care of our kids really resonated with everybody. The engagement was there, the q and a back and forth, and then the hands-on learning, I think we’re better off now, even today in the afternoon for keeping people safe,” says Middle and High School Principal Adam Padd.
Eventually, the program would be presented to students as well, so they can have this knowledge for the rest of their lives. This is something Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel supports.
“We teach them how to do math equations, we teach them how to balance a checkbook, we teach them other skills. These are still skills that our students can learn to go out and be a better person in the community,” says Wendel.
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