First aid course teaching bystanders how to become first responders during emergencies, including mass shootings

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- A pair of local hospitals are holding courses designed to teach members of the public how to become first responders during times of severe medical emergencies, including mass shootings.

The training is part of the Stop the Bleed campaign, a federal program that was created by multiple national agencies following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT in 2012.

Stop the Bleed teaches people how to identify injuries and how to stop life-threatening bleeding, which is the number one cause of preventable death after severe injury.

The free course lasts less than one hour and is currently being taught in San Luis Obispo County by Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and at Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton.

During the course, Stop the Bleed will instruct people how to use three quick techniques that may help save a life before an injured person bleeds out, which can occur in as little as five minutes.

People who go through the training will learn how to use their hands to apply pressure to a wound, how to pack a wound to control bleeding and how to correctly apply a tourniquet.

Tenet Health Central Coast, which owns Sierra Vista and Twin Cities hospitals, is urging the members of the public to go through training in light of recent mass shootings nationwide.

Classes are held on site at either of the two hospitals, or instructors may also go out into the community and hold trainings at remote locations.

The course is designed for anyone, but is targeted for groups of people, such as businesses, organizations, groups, clubs, school districts, etc.

Since Stop the Bleed was created, nearly two million people nationwide have gone through the training.

For more information about Stop the Bleed, click here.

To schedule a Stop the Bleed training course, call (805) 546-7823.