Hartford Hospital First in the Nation to Install Bleeding Control Bags

March 22, 2014 By Tina Varona, Media Relations Manager

Hartford Hospital Transforming How the Nation Responds To Mass Casualty Events

Hartford Hospital has installed the nation’s first bleeding control bags in public areas throughout the hospital campus. Much like AEDs (automatic external defibrillators) that are present in public spaces, experts believe bleeding control bags could save lives.

Thanks to a generous donation from the Hartford Hospital Auxiliary, the bleeding control bags are equipped with all the essentials to effectively treat blast wound injuries. Inside the bag contains two types of tourniquets, gauze, hemostatic dressing and sheers.

Staff will be trained to use the bleeding control bag to maximize survival from an active shooter or bombing incident. The initial response is a critical role in assessing the injury and applying a tourniquet, if necessary, for hemorrhage control and safe transfer to trauma care.

“Those who are uninjured or minimally injured can act as rescuers,” said Lenworth Jacobs, M.D., vice president, academic affairs & chief academic officer, and trauma surgeon, Hartford HealthCare. We are living in a different world today and we must be prepared to act. That is why we are taking this first step in utilizing bleeding control bags in key areas of the hospital. Everyone can save a life.”