All 300 members of the DART Police Department will soon be trained on how to properly use a tourniquet and stop a wound from bleeding.
Training, led by staff at Baylor Scott & White Health, started Tuesday.
It's part of the Department of Homeland Security's "Stop The Bleed" campaign, which looks to empower immediate responders and bystanders with the ability to act quickly and save lives.
Trauma surgeons and educational staff will teach officers how to use a tourniquet to stop bleeding from gunshot wounds or other life-threatening injuries.
"It's not just the gunshot wound. It's someone who trips and falls at home and breaks a glass table and has a large laceration. People still bleed to death from that and these are areas that we hope to be able to make a difference," said Dr. Michael Foreman, Trauma Director at Baylor Scott & White Dallas.
"You don't realize how that little piece of plastic can make a big difference in life or limb. I think all the officers will be excited about this," said Sergeant Donovon Collins, who was part of Tuesday's training.
Officers will also learn how to put pressure on the wounds to stem bleeding before medical personnel arrive.
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John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth will launch classes for the public that will teach how to apply a tourniquet and apply pressure to stop massive bleeding.
Doctors hope a “Stop the Bleed” kit can someday be put in emergency stations in public places the way that defibrillators are now.
"What we will see is hopefully people who will not have bled as much in the field, so that way, we can resuscitate them with less blood and products and have a better outcome. Not only less death, but a better outcome, faster return to function, better return to function," said Dr. Raj Gandhi, Trauma Medical Director at JPS.
Other Level I Trauma Center hospitals are doing likewise in their communities, joining a statewide effort called Stop the Bleed.
Classes at JPS are free to the public.
