WVU Medicine 'Stop the Bleed' training pays off for WVU Police officers
WVU Police officers learned life-saving techniques through the "Stop the Bleed" program, an initiative of the WVU Medicine Critical Care and Trauma Institute.
Last month, police and EMS were dispatched to a scene, where a patient was bleeding profusely from a significant laceration to his forearm. First to arrive at the scene, officers John Cunningham and Jonathan Ralston quickly applied a tourniquet to the patient's arm, which ultimately saved his life.
Recently, officers Cunningham and Ralston received the Lifesaving Award from the WVU Police Department.
Stop the Bleed instructors Jim Bardes, MD, WVU Medicine trauma surgeon, and Leslie Willard, RN, WVU Medicine Injury Prevention Outreach and Stop the Bleed coordinator, had the honor of being present for the award ceremony.
Dr. Bardes was the trauma surgeon on duty that received the patient, and without the quick thinking of the officers, the outcome may not have been the same.