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By Kate Hunger 

The Department of Physician Assistant Studies trains students how to stop uncontrolled bleeding during trauma situations before the arrival of emergency responders.

The Stop the Bleed campaign, part of a national initiative, aims to give people with the skills to effectively apply tourniquets to stop bleeding resulting from trauma such as car accidents or mass violence, said Physician Assistant Studies Assistant Professor–Clinical Roland Paquette, PA-C.

“They are becoming associate instructors,” he said of the students who have gone through the training.

Each PA class receives the three-hour training, which includes instruction on multiple tourniquets and how to apply and adequately tighten them. Paquette is the primary instructor for the course, which is developed and approved by the American College of Surgeons.

The goal of Stop the Bleed is to train community first responders who step into action rather than simply call for help. 

“When these incidents occur, traditional EMS is delayed because there is chaos,” Paquette said.

Hands-on training is essential for giving people confidence in their ability to respond in a true emergency, he said.

“If you don’t work in the pre-hospital realm, by the time a patient shows up in the ER, they already have a tourniquet on.”

A new Texas law requires school districts to provide bleed control training to staff and students and to have kits available on campus for that purpose.