North Vancouver School District
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News Item

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New life-saving kits installed at North Van high schools

May 08, 2019

​‘Stop the Bleed’ kits complement school district's AED and defibrillator program

By Ben Bengtson, North Shore News
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In the unlikely event of a major injury, there’s now another tool at North Van high schools’ disposal that could likely save a life.

The District of North Vancouver Firefighters Charitable Society recently donated a set of comprehensive “Stop the Bleed” kits to all North Vancouver secondary schools, with assistance from the North Vancouver City Fire Department.

The clearly marked life-saving kits contain six items which are specifically designed to stop, or drastically slow down, a major bleed in the unlikely event of a serious injury, according to North Vancouver district firefighter and charitable society spokesman Scott Ferguson, who added the kits aren’t your standard first aid kit in that they’re designed specifically for one purpose.

“If you have a really bad thing happen … even just an accident where someone has an arterial bleed, these kits are made to stop that and basically to save someone’s life while they’re waiting for first responders to arrive,” said Ferguson.

Each Stop the Bleed kit contains a pair of medical gloves, scissors, a permanent marker, a tourniquet, a hemostatic gauze, and one Israeli bandage, also known as an emergency bandage, which are designed to stop hemorrhage wounds in pre-hospital emergency situations.

“We agree that the kits should be placed anywhere the public congregates,” according to Ferguson, who added the Stop the Bleed kits have been placed alongside the school district’s set of defibrillators and AEDs, which were phased in at North Vancouver high schools at the start of the school year.

“We think it’s a good idea to have them with the AEDs, because those are obviously there for a major emergency situation where someone’s heart has stopped or they’re unconscious – these Stop the Bleed kits are for a major emergency where someone’s bleeding out and needs to get that bleeding stopped immediately,” said Ferguson.

Training provided by firefighters on how to properly use the kits is now being offered to teachers and staff, according to North Vancouver School District spokeswoman Deneka Michaud.

While an instance of having to use the Stop the Bleed kits would be extremely rare, Michaud said the school district was “really thankful” the charitable society donated the new life-saving kits.

“Student and staff safety is our top priority and being able to have another kit or resource available that can be life-saving for our community is incredibly valuable,” said Michaud.

The Firefighters Charitable Society’s annual Time to Talk and Barn Burner fundraising event and concert are slated for June 6 and 8, respectively.

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