Pinellas County teenagers learn life saving skills
PINELLAS COUNTY,Fla. - Teenagers in Pinellas County stepped outside the classroom Wednesday and learned life-saving skills.
It was part of a campaign called Stop the Bleed hosted by Bayfront Health.
"Being able to have the knowledge to save someone's life is just so important," Jackson Settle, a junior in high school, said.
Bayfront Health staff who’ve worked in the trauma department of the emergency room spent the morning certifying students with Youth Leadership Pinellas in Stop the Bleed training. The students learned how to apply a tourniquet, how to apply pressure to a wound, and how to pack a wound with gauze.
"In our modern world, accidents happen," Autumn Rain Nachman, a junior, said. "It could be anything from someone falling off a bike to a tragedy like a school shooting, and understanding how to help others in your community in those situations is an incredibly beneficial skill," she said.
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Pinellas' teenagers learn life-saving skills
The training was part of Youth Leadership Pinellas’ emergency services day, including a visit to the 911 center and Sunstar Paramedics.
"Stop the Bleed is really an important skill to have," Nate Cocco, Volunteer Program Director with Youth Leadership Pinellas, said.
"Unfortunately, in this country, it's one that might be used someday. So regardless of whether it's, you know, someone falling off a bike or getting in a car accident, or it's an unfortunate event like a school shooting, these are just important life skills to know," he said.
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Bayfront recently launched its Stop the Bleed program, and its staff holds training for the community and students.
"It's vital for every person to know this, not just to have it in the workplace, but to be able to use it out in the community and be able to help when needed," Liz Lavelle, a patient care administrator in the nursing program at Bayfront, said.
If you’d like to learn these lifesaving skills, you can sign up for a course on Stop the Bleed’s website by clicking here.
Youth Leadership Pinellas, started in 1998 as a way to teach kids across the county leadership skills. Any high school freshman, sophomore or junior can apply to the program. The application process runs through April. Applicants will go through an extensive interview process, and 40-45 students are then chosen.