By Geri Gibbons
The Times-Leader
JENKINS TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A mechanic at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport on Wednesday traded his toolbox for tourniquets and bandages.
Mike Sobolewski was one of 20 airport staff who received training from the Geisinger Community Medical Center’s trauma team as part of the “Stop the Bleed” training program.
“With so much going on in the world,” Sobolewski said. “We want to be ready for anything.”
The program teaches how to stop bleeding quickly and the importance of doing so.
Kathryn Bommer, trauma education and outreach coordinator at Geisinger, said often EMTs are not the first to arrive on the scene of tragedies, pointing to the school shootings at Sandy Hook and Columbine or more recently the night club shooting in Orlando.
Any delay in accessing and treating victims means lives lost, said Bommer.
Geisinger trauma surgeon Brian Frank said the training is not be limited to professionals, but available to all.
“We have already brought the program to firefighters, educators, Boy Scouts and security personnel,” said Bommer. “And we’re going to keep branching out. This is a training for John Q. Public.”
Mike Sobolewski, who has worked at the airport for more than 20 years, said the group attends training sessions about once a month as required by the FAA.
Sobolewski said required training sessions have increased over the years in order to ensure that employees are prepared for situations that might arise.
The participants were reminded to ensure their own safety before entering a scene.
Then they were told they should look for life-threatening bleeding, including blood that is spurting out of a wound, blood that is pooling on the ground or bleeding in a victim who is confused or unconscious.
Bommer told participants that in order to stop bleeding they should first apply pressure to a wound.
For bleeding from an arm or a leg, participants were instructed as to the proper way to apply a tourniquet.
Bommer said those administering first aid and emergency responders are now being instructed to again use tourniquets after a period in which they were instructed to refrain from using them.
“Something old is sometimes something new again,” she said.
Just as first aid and CPR are part of the proper response to a medical crisis, so should an effort to stop bleeding, Boomer said.
Copyright 2017 The Times Leader