Bleeding control kits to be distributed across the region

More than 1,700 bleeding control kits will be distributed to community locations across the Puget Sound region. These kits, along with simple training, help the public provide basic life-saving assistance to stop bleeding before first responders can get there.

King County Office of Emergency Management is coordinating the purchase and distribution of the kits in King County, and to its partner emergency management agencies in the cities of Seattle and Bellevue, and Snohomish and Pierce counties.

Bleeding control kit

These “Stop the Bleed” kits will be distributed as part of a multi-year initiative. Along with the placement of the kits, the community locations receiving the kits commit to providing training on the use of the kits, either in-person or online. Funding for the bleeding control kits comes from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants that promote community resiliency.

The purpose of the bleeding control kits is to encourage the general public to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.

“We have seen time and time again that if initial bleeding from a severe injury can be stopped quickly, the likelihood of a better outcome increases,” said King County Medic One Chief Andrea Coulson.

Community members can learn bleeding control skills at any time.

“Unfortunately, we have all been seeing an increase in the frequency of incidents across the country,” said King County Emergency Management Director Brendan McCluskey. “We hope these kits are never needed, but if they are, we want them in places where they can be most useful in saving lives, much like AEDs in public places have improved the chances of survival for heart attack victims.”

King County is expecting to purchase more bleeding control kits in the coming grant cycles. The hope is that these kits will provide the impetus for more community and other high-occupancy facility owners to learn about and purchase their own kits. 

Each bleeding control kit contains a tourniquet, gauze, and other medical supplies. The kits have an easy-to-follow guide on how to stop immediate bleeding, and a QR code that takes the user to a quick video training.

The “Stop the Bleed” program is administered by the American Colleges of Surgeons. According to its website, the campaign “was initiated by a federal interagency workgroup. The purpose of the campaign is to build national resilience by better preparing the public to save lives by raising awareness of basic actions to stop life-threatening bleeding following everyday emergencies and man-made and natural disasters.”

FEMA’s Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) assists high-threat, high-density Urban Area efforts to build, sustain, and deliver the capabilities necessary to prevent, prepare for, protect against, and respond to acts of terrorism. The Seattle region has been designated one of those areas since 2003.