A $1,500 donation from the Tomah Health Foundation to the Tomah Area Ambulance Service will provide a bleeding control kit in each building in the Tomah School District. The foundation donated the funds to support Tomah’s Stop the Bleed program.
Launched in 2015 by the White House, Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and a call to action intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. The National Trauma Institute reports that bleeding is responsible for 40 percent of deaths in the first 24 hours after a traumatic event.
Tomah Ambulance Service Director Randal Dunford said ambulance staff will provide training to school staff and students on the use of the bleeding control kits. He added that officials hope to expand the program to businesses in the Tomah area.