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Somerset County students among first in the state to participate in 'Stop the Bleed'

“If something happens I’ve got to help and be ready," said Madolynn Hughes, a student at Carrabec High School. "This training makes me even more ready.”

ANSON, Maine — Gone are the days when lock down drills in schools are outside the norm.

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut a new type of training was developed. It teaches people of all ages how to make tourniquets in the event of an emergency.

And now students in Somerset County are the first in the state to learn how to "Stop the Bleed."

Indira Tomazin, the Director of Education at Redington Fairview General Hospital, unzips a little red pack. Inside it includes gauze, scissors, and a blue tourniquet. 

The packs cost anywhere from $250 to $300 and someday soon, they could become as readily available as defibrillators in public places, like schools. 

“We are trusting the public to learn CPR and those skills," said Tomazin. "We’re trusting them with EpiPens, now we’re trusting them with administering Narcan. So why wouldn’t we trust them with learning how to control bleeding, how to properly apply a tourniquet to save someone’s life?”

Students at Carrebec High School in North Anson are learning how to use them. They're part of the Jobs for Maine Graduates program at the high school.

“If something happens I’ve gotta help and be ready," said Madolynn Hughes, a senior. "This training makes me even more ready.”

The Department of Homeland Security initiative called "Stop the Bleed" formed after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

The program teaches the correct technique for applying a tourniquet, and what to do when that’s not an option.

“I just looked at this as another tool, skill to give them, to prepare them for anything," said Kim Cole, the Jobs for Maine Graduates specialist at Carrabec High School. "Whether there was an accident at work, home, just something else for them to have.”

Since December a team at Redington Fairview Hospital has trained 100 people. So far in Maine 400 people have undergone the training.

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