The Trauma team from NYU Winthrop Hospital, an ACS Level 1 Trauma Center, expanded the scope of its Stop the Bleed program to more than a dozen Athletic Trainers who serve area high schools throughout Nassau County.
Athletic Trainers from Syosset and Locust Valley high schools participated in this week’s training alongside NYU Winthrop’s Athletic Trainers who serve high schools in Garden City, East Meadow, Herricks, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Plainview, Westbury, Uniondale and Levittown among others.
Knowledge gained through Stop the Bleed is most often associated with treating injuries following mass casualties, gun violence or car crashes, but sports injuries can also be very serious. By empowering the Athletic Trainers through Stop the Bleed, high school sports teams in Nassau County will now be better prepared to address a wide range of injury possibilities – including life-threatening bleeding.
“The NYU Winthrop Athletic Trainer team collaborates with physicians to provide preventative services, emergency care, clinical diagnosis, rehabilitation of injuries and more,” said Christopher Napoli, MS, ATC, Supervisor of Athletic Training Services at NYU Winthrop. “Empowering Athletic Trainers through Stop the Bleed helps round out their capabilities if faced with serious bleeding, enabling them to provide assistance to save lives and limbs. This training should be required for Athletic Trainers in every school district on Long Island.”
NYU Winthrop’s Athletic Trainers are part of the Hospital’s Sport Medicine program and the Athletic Trainers’ services include community outreach on acute care of injuries.
“Although most injuries that occur in athletics are relatively minor, life-threatening injuries are unpredictable and can occur without warning,” added Tony Marra, Athletic Trainer at Locust Valley High School. “Serious injury can occur during any physical activity – and at any level of participation. Now, following Stop the Bleed training by NYU Winthrop trauma experts, I’ll be equipped to provide lifesaving assistance during serious bleeding situations should they arise.”
Stop the Bleed is a national program that encourages first responders and everyday citizens to become trained to assist in a bleeding emergency until professional medical aid arrives. The NYU Winthrop Trauma team has been training organizations and residents across Long Island, bringing the program’s lifesaving techniques to firefighters, public safety officers, health professionals, universities, public entertainment venues and, more recently, high school staffs.
Steve Tozer, the Athletic Trainer at Syosset High School, said “As a certified Athletic Trainer, I am called upon to assist students who suffer injuries during athletic competitions. Stop the Bleed training enables me to now provide immediate assistance to halt serious bleeding until emergency responders arrive. While I hope I never have to utilize the skills learned in Stop the Bleed, the training could one day prove to be the difference between life and death.”
According to a National Academies of Science study, trauma is the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 46. In many cases, the deaths are due to blood loss and are preventable. The Stop the Bleed program teaches tactics to recognize life-threatening bleeding and provide immediate response to control that bleeding including by direct pressure, the use of tourniquets, or packing (filling) a wound with gauze or clean cloth. Bleeding wounds, such as to the arms and legs, can many times be controlled by direct pressure.
Dr. D’Andrea Joseph, Chief of NYU Winthrop’s Division of Trauma and Critical Care, hopes that Stop the Bleed will become a standard lifesaving program just like CPR. The Hospital is encouraging institutions to install Stop the Bleed kits, which include tourniquets, alongside defibrillators in public venues and at schools.
