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Arkansas Children’s Expands Stop the Bleed Training to Save More Lives as Summer Injury Season Continues

June 22, 2023

LITTLE ROCK, AR. (June 22, 2023) – Trauma experts at Arkansas Children’s believe you have the power to save children’s lives when bleeding emergencies happen and minutes count this summer.

That’s why the state’s nationally ranked pediatric health system is expanding access to grassroots training that can help parents and caretakers act before emergency services even arrive.

Stop the Bleed is a 90-minute course developed by the American College of Surgeons to teach you simple skills experts estimate could save hundreds of lives each year. The program has the potential to reduce bleeding deaths nationally with an impact similar to how CPR training has reduced deaths from cardiac arrest.

“Instead of being a witness, a trainee is empowered to act as immediate responder because they know how to Stop the Bleed,” said Dr. Deidre Wyrick, a pediatric critical care surgeon and chief of Pediatric Trauma divisions at Arkansas Children’s and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. “Our goal is to get this training into the hands of parents, babysitters, teachers and others to save children’s lives when the unexpected happens.”

In the medical world, summer is known as “trauma season” – when more children are severely injured as school lets out and vacations and fun activities accelerate. Children and teens are more likely to be injured between now and Labor Day by boat accidents, ATV crashes, sports mishaps and even unexpected household hazards.

“We see it all too often. Arkansas Children’s has treated multiple children for bleeding emergencies after items like glass cookware shattered or yard equipment tossed up sharp sticks,” Wyrick said. “Having a family member trained in Stop the Bleed saves lives in those moments.”

Trauma surgeons and nurses from Arkansas Children’s will teach Arkansans these skills during free trainings statewide over the next year.

Wyrick will lead the first class in the series at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock on June 23 at 1 PM.

A second class is scheduled at Arkansas Children’s Northwest in Springdale on June 27 at 1 PM.

Arkansas Children’s trauma experts will work with you in person, using training materials specially developed to teach bleeding control techniques. They will also be available to check your movements as you practice three different bleeding control actions.

You will go home with kits stocked with tools needed to stop urgent bleeding.

Three ways to register:

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

Arkansas Children's is the only healthcare system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' more than 700,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2023—2024): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Diabetes & Endocrinology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Pulmonology and Urology. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); the state’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) system for neurosurgical planning and cutting-edge research; and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the Northwest Arkansas region, is a level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and Northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.

ABOUT UAMS

UAMS is the state's only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS' clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state's largest public employer, with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children's, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.

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