May 15th, 2019– Southside Hospital has donated three bleeding control stations to Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma, part of the Town of Islip, for emergency use.
Bleeding control stations contain gauze and tourniquets that can be applied to an open wound to stop the bleed before emergency medical services personnel arrive. The bleeding control kits or “Stop the Bleed” tools are stored in wall stations, similar to the way public access Automated External Defibrillators are stored.
“The Town of Islip is grateful to Southside Hospital and the Northwell Health Trauma Institute for donating these life-saving kits,” said Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter. “In an emergency, every second counts. While we hope never to experience this level of trauma, having the knowledge and the tools at your fingertips can mean the difference between life and death.”
Southside Hospital and the Northwell Health Trauma Institute have provided hundreds of hours of education to community groups across Long Island about how to best render aid to an injured person who has suffered a trauma.
“Research has shown that, depending on the situation, a person can bleed out in a matter of minutes,” said Timothy Dackow, NP, trauma coordinator at Southside. “The best chance of saving a person’s life after they experience a trauma is for a nearby good Samaritan to use these bleeding control techniques involving gauze and/or a tourniquet. The training sessions I have performed are about an hour long with half of that time being spent practicing how to use these bleeding control tools. That’s an hour that can help someone save a life. We hope individuals never need to use the ‘Stop the Bleed’ training or equipment, but it’s best to be prepared for an emergency.”
Southside Hospital is an American College of Surgeons Level II designated trauma center.
For more information about Southside Hospital, call 631-968-3000.