During Emergency Medical Services Week from May 15-22, and for Stop the Bleed Day on May 19, Emory’s Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response (CEPAR) is encouraging support from the Emory community in distribution of a new public service announcement aimed at providing lifesaving information to the citizens of Ukraine.
The “Stop the Bleed” PSA for Ukraine brings together familiar Hollywood faces from popular medical dramas in an effort to show Ukrainian people simple techniques to help stop life-threatening bleeding if trained personnel are unable to arrive soon enough.
Many Ukrainians still have internet access, so the goal of the PSA is to reach as many civilians as possible. The PSA demonstrates simple skills for people with no medical training to stop potentially deadly bleeding.
“Throughout the Emory community, many students, staff and faculty have expressed solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” says Alex Isakov, MD, a professor of emergency medicine and executive director of CEPAR. “Through networks at home and overseas, we as a community can help increase awareness of this PSA by sharing it with others. In addition, the basic instruction about how to ‘stop the bleed’ is valuable as a lifesaving intervention wherever you live.”
“Stop the Bleed” originated in 2015 as a campaign to provide bystanders of emergencies the tools and knowledge to stop life-threatening bleeding.
Maniac Productions founder Michael Seitzman (“North Country,” “Quantico”) wrote the PSA script with input from physicians from the American College of Surgeons, the American Red Cross, the Uniformed Services University’s National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Mass General Brigham. A Ukrainian surgeon from Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Mass General Brigham translated the script into Ukrainian for the subtitles. The PSA also includes the Department of Defense “Stop the Bleed” logo with their permission.
Multiple medical organizations are supporting production and distribution of the PSA, including the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, American Association of Medical Colleges, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Heart Association, Children’s Hospital Association, National Association of EMS Physicians, Stop the Bleed Coalition, Stop the Bleed Education Consortium and Trauma Center Association of America.
Please join the effort by sharing the video linked here.