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Lawmakers Push Public Schools To Carry 'Stop The Bleed' Kits

(Carter Barrett, WFYI)
(Carter Barrett, WFYI)

Some lawmakers want to  require all Indiana public schools to have first aid trauma kits and train staff to use them.

The bill’s author Rep. Randy Frye (R-Greensburg) says these “Stop the Bleed” kits and training could save lives. 

"In the event of the worst case scenario, those on site can address the bleeding immediately," Frye says. "We know that someone could in case of an active shooter, for instance, bleed to death before their first responder can arrive." 

The 45-minute training course would teach people to stop someone from bleeding to death, which doctors say can happen within three to five minutes.

The Indiana Hospital Association already agreed to donate three kits to every Indiana public school, and two Indiana firefighters associations agreed to provide free training.

"Of more importance really is the training that goes with this because you can use a necktie, a belt, a T-shirt, anything to put pressure compress and apply a tourniquet to stop bleeding," the bill's co-author and surgeon Rep. Brad Barrett (R-Richmond) says. 

The kits contain gauze, tourniquet, survival blanket, gloves and an ink pen. 

The bill passed the House unanimously and is now moving through the Senate.

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Sara Wittmeyer is the News Bureau Chief for WFIU and WTIU. Sara has more than two decades of journalism experience. She led the creation of the converged WFIU/WTIU Newsroom in 2010 and previously served with KBIA at the University of Missouri, WNKU at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, KY, and at WCPO News in Cincinnati.