The Killingworth Ambulance Association will host its first public “Stop the Bleed” (STB) class in nearly three years on Saturday, May 17, at its Route 81 headquarters. The event will begin at noon and is free of charge, with individuals 12 years and older invited to attend.
It is expected to last approximately one hour.
The course marks the first time since Sept. 24, 2022, the KAA has offered the course to the public. In the two-and-three-quarters years that passed, it ran private STB classes at sites that include Haddam-Killingworth High School and the Westbrook YMCA.
“Stop the Bleed” is a nationwide awareness campaign (STOP THE BLEED – Save a Life | Stop The Bleed) launched in 2015 by the White House and Department of Homeland Security. It is designed to empower bystanders with the training necessary to deal with traumatic events and emergency bleeding situations before help arrives.
The KAA conducted several “STB” classes annually until the COVID pandemic emerged in 2020. Then it went dark for two years, returning with a class in August, 2022 that attracted 14 students, followed by another a month later.
The value of the course was underscored in October, 2019, when a state trooper responding to an accident at Middletown’s Vinal Technical High School implemented a “Stop the Bleed” kit to treat what was termed “a catastrophic injury” that involved profuse bleeding.
Officials later said quick thinking by the state trooper may have saved the victim’s life.
The KAA first offered “Stop the Bleed” classes in July, 2017, making Killingworth the first Connecticut town to have its citizens certified. Since then, it has conducted over 40 classes and had “Stop the Bleed” stations installed at the Killingworth Public Library, St. Lawrence Church, Town Hall, Parmelee Farm, Sheldon Park, the Killingworth Congregational Church and Eric Auer Field at Killingworth Recreational Park.
The KAA asks that those interested in the May 17 event to pre-register by logging on to killingworthambulance.org, going to “Classes” on the menu bar and pulling down the section marked “RSVP.”