In partnership with the Good Samaritan Society-Legacy Health, Yavapai College is preparing to help train all YC employees and community residents in a life-saving measure called Stop The Bleed.

The training authored by the American College of Surgeons will be available free in different forms -- in YC community education courses and for groups of employees and volunteers at locations countywide.

For more information about Stop The Bleed training, visit stopthebleed.org.

Additionally, YC is investing in 25 Stop The Bleed (trauma bleeding control) kits for placement at all six campuses and centers across the county.

Learning to prevent severe blood loss is not something anyone ever wants or expects to do, but knowing how can reduce anxiety for folks who may worry about how they would react in the event of a life-threatening emergency, said David Teague, YC Manager of Environmental Health and Safety.

“If we can train as many people as are willing to learn, we can relieve some of that anxiety as well as have a more prepared population,” Teague said, noting that severe bleeding can result not only from gunshot wounds, but from animal bites, power tools and car accidents, to name a few.

Among other things, Stop The Bleed students will learn to use commercial and improvised tourniquets, to apply wound pressure, and how and when to apply chest seals, Teague said.

Josh Schmidt, a member of the Yavapai County Sheriffs Office’s Backcountry Unit and a YC Science professor, has experienced the life-saving benefits of teaching people to stop severe bleeding. “We did a very similar program all last year with all of our deputies with the sheriff’s office and we’ve had three events now where lives have been saved from it – that I know of. And there may be more. So, it’s a great program,” said Schmidt, who has volunteered to teach Stop The Bleed classes for YC. Other volunteer trainers hail from the Good Samaritan Society, the YC Campus Police Department and the YC Athletics Department.

Stop The Bleed training will be incorporated into Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE) training already taking place for schools, businesses and community organizations. Teague said YC plans eventually to make Stop The Bleed course available in its instructional software so students and employees can access it anytime.

The first round of free Stop The Bleed community education classes are scheduled in March. View the upcoming classes here.

School districts, law enforcement agencies, and employers in Yavapai County can request Stop The Bleed Training by emailing Teague, david.teague@yc.edu.