You may have noticed the blue bags scattered throughout the hallways of Lakeview High School. These aren’t just any first aid kits.

These “Stop the Bleed” bags contain potentially life saving kits. Each of the three bags here in the high school include three tourniquets, quick clot, and gauze.

Tourniquets are simple to use. Once positioned above the wound, a strap is pulled tight against it and secured by twisting what is called a windlass. These are designed to stop arterial bleeds in the event of such a wound to a major artery, which can prove fatal.

Uncontrolled bleeding can claim victims within a mere five to ten minutes of befalling such an injury well before paramedics may be able to arrive.

Now, Lakeview’s faculty have the training and resources to take immediate action in this manner of emergency situation. This is why having these kits around is so important- they could mean the difference between life and death.

Although these kits associated with school shootings, their purpose goes beyond the event of a gunshot wound. Tourniquets are good to have around in the case of several potential emergency situations that would cause major bleeding.

During an interview with Lakeview Resource Officer Brandon Rice, he motioned to the trophy case near the main lobby of our school and pointed out that a student could hypothetically run into it and suffer a major cut from the glass shards. This is an example of a potential situation in which the kit would prove useful.

Officer Rice, who works within our school district, organized the introduction of this school district wide safety precaution that was put into motion in this year.

Mercy Health provided the bags and our teachers with the proper training at the start of this school year as part of the Stop the Bleed campaign, which is taking off across the country. Our local fire department as well as University Hospital also took part.

Officer Rice also carries a tourniquet in his belt and he and his fellow officers carry them in their cruisers.

“I figured that, with the amount of people here, it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it,” said Rice of why he proposed that Lakeview should also take these measures.

A smaller version of this kit will soon be provided for every classroom. Officer Rice says that this is set to happen within the next month.

The Stop the Bleed Movement coming to Lakeview is just one of several precautions that have recently been taken to increase school safety here in our school district and across America.

Another is the recent passing of an Ohio bill requiring that all high school students in our state are taught CPR. As a result, all incoming freshman at Lakeview now learn CPR in a class taught by Mr. Lanterman.

Similarly, medical expert Dr. Eileen Bulger, chairwoman of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, asserts that learning how to control major bleeding “should be as common as CPR.”

Some states have gone even further than Ohio. The state of Arkansas now requires that high school students are educated on bleeding control techniques. The government is in agreement with this measure.

Last year, the Department of Homeland Security began offering a grant to launch a trauma training program to prepare high school students to handle major wounds, especially in the event of school shootings.

Hopefully, no one will ever be in a situation that warrants the use of these blue bags. But thankfully, our school is now well equipped to deal with such serious wounds, should they ever occur.