Learn How to Recognize and Stop Life-Threatening Bleeding

Did you know uncontrolled bleeding is a leading cause of preventable death due to a physical trauma? Injuries, accidents and intentional harm can happen at home, at work – anywhere. And it only takes five minutes for a person to die from traumatic blood loss.

Trauma Physicians

L to R: Dr. J. Jesus Rendon, Dr. John Hovorka,
Dr. LeRone Simpson and Dr. Carlos Palacio

"Everyone should know how to recognize life-threatening bleeding. And, you don’t have to be a paramedic to help control the situation while waiting for paramedics to arrive," proclaims Dr. Carlos H. Palacio, MD, FACS, Trauma Research Director at South Texas Health System McAllen. "With some basic education on how to control the bleeding in an injured person before emergency help arrives, you can increase that person’s chances of survival."

To help educate the community, South Texas Health System McAllen’s Trauma Department travels throughout the Rio Grande Valley offering complimentary Stop the Bleed courses in English and Spanish. The classes are designed to help you respond to a potentially deadly injury by recognizing life-threatening bleeding and taking the appropriate steps to stop additional blood loss.

Schedule a Training Session

If you’re interested in scheduling a training session, please contact our Injury Prevention Department at 956-632-4929.

The course was developed for a non-medical audience and is open to anyone age 16 and older. It includes a formal presentation and hands-on practice of direct pressure application, wound packing, and how to use a tourniquet to control life-threatening bleeding until help arrives.

Stop the Bleed

Stop the Bleed, a national awareness campaign and call to action, was launched at the White House in October 2015, and was intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained to help in a bleeding emergency. Today, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (COT) is leading the effort to save lives by teaching the general public how to respond to stop uncontrolled bleeding in emergency situations.

During the ongoing pandemic, staff are taking COVID-19 precautions, including limited class sizes, social distancing, mask wearing and sanitizing of equipment.