Stop the Bleed: 3 Skills Any Bystander Can Learn

In 2013 a gunman opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard. In 2017 a mass shooting took place at a country music festival in Las Vegas. In both events, and in nearly every major mass casualty incident since, the same conclusion emerged from the medical response: bystanders who knew how to control bleeding saved lives before EMS arrived.

That is what the Stop the Bleed program is built on. And it is why I believe these three skills belong in every civilian's toolkit, not just the ones who carry a trauma kit.

Why bleeding control matters.

Uncontrolled hemorrhage is the number one cause of preventable death from traumatic injury. Not cardiac arrest. Not airway obstruction. Bleeding. And in most cases, the window to make a difference is measured in minutes, not the ten or fifteen minutes it takes for EMS to arrive.

The person standing next to the patient when it happens is the most important person in that room. If that person knows these three skills, the patient has a significantly better chance of survival.

Skill 1: Apply direct pressure with your hands.

If you have nothing else, no kit, no gauze, no tourniquet, your hands are a tool. Find the source of the bleeding, put your hands directly on it, and push hard. Not a gentle press. Hard, sustained pressure. Use both hands if you need to. Do not lift your hands to check if the bleeding has stopped. Hold pressure until help arrives or until you have something better to work with.

This sounds simple because it is. It is also one of the most effective things a bystander can do in the first sixty seconds of a bleeding emergency.

Skill 2: Pack the wound.

Direct pressure works well for wounds on flat surfaces. For deep wounds, stab wounds, gunshot wounds, wounds in the groin, armpit, or neck where a tourniquet cannot reach, wound packing is the technique.

Take your gauze, push it directly into the wound cavity, and apply firm pressure on top. The goal is to fill the dead space inside the wound and create enough pressure against the bleeding vessel to slow or stop the flow. The QuikClot hemostatic gauze in the MODULE 1 Hemorrhage Control kit goes further. It contains a hemostatic agent that actively accelerates clotting. But even standard gauze packed correctly and held under firm pressure is dramatically better than nothing.

Keep packing. Keep pressing. Do not stop.

Skill 3: Apply a tourniquet.

For bleeding from an arm or leg that is severe and not controlled by direct pressure, a tourniquet is the intervention. Apply it two to three inches above the wound, not on a joint. Tighten it until the bleeding stops, not just until it is snug. Write the time of application on the band with a marker. Do not remove it.

The CAT Tourniquet in the MODULE 1 Hemorrhage Control kit is the same device used in military and prehospital care. It is designed to be applied one-handed in under a minute. But like any skill, it needs practice before the moment you need it.

The order matters.

Hands first. Gauze and wound packing second. Tourniquet for extremity wounds that are not controlled. That is the sequence. Know it before you need it.

What this means for you.

You do not need to be a paramedic to save a life. You need to know these three skills and have the right tools within reach. The MODULE 1 Hemorrhage Control kit is built around exactly these three interventions: hands, gauze, tourniquet. Everything in that kit exists to support one of these three skills.

Take a Stop the Bleed course if you can. They are free, they are available nationwide, and they take about two hours. Find a course at stopthebleed.org.

And practice with your tourniquet before you need it.

Kevin, Founder | IFAK360
Licensed Paramedic and Firefighter | 23 Years Prehospital Experience | Navy Veteran

The information provided in this blog is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always seek professional medical care for injuries and emergencies. In an emergency, call 911.