Bystanders will be first on the scene. Life threatening emergencies can happen without warning and emergency responders may not be nearby. Bleeding is one of the most common injuries among survivors of an emergency and rapid loss of blood can result in death. A person can die from blood loss within five minutes. Those nearest someone with life threatening injuries are best positioned to provide first care and significantly increase a person’s chance of survival.

Stop the Bleed is a national awareness campaign and call to action adopted by the Florida Department of Health. The Stop the Bleed campaign, based on U.S. military success in reducing combat fatalities, launched by the White House in October 2015, is aimed at decreasing preventable deaths through bleeding control.