We are all familiar with the term ‘first responders” to describe medical personnel who are trained to provide care at the scene of an emergency. Perhaps not as well-known is the term ‘immediate responders’ – a term used to describe the first people on the scene, often civilians with little or no first aid training.
In Ukraine, immediate responders are being called to action at astounding rates. “The frontline is everywhere,” said Mark Antal, co-founder of Task Force Antal (TFA). “With hospitals, power systems, and residences in harm’s way, civilians are never far from destruction and injury. One in 10 hospitals are damaged. Out of necessity, civilians must become immediate responders, often to provide life-saving bleeding control.”
Task Force Antal is a US-based humanitarian non-profit focused on helping people in conflict areas around the world, whether through evacuation assistance, transportation, food, or medical services. At its core are dozens of highly trained volunteers who know how to perform under pressure. They teach civilians how to provide emergency trauma care, with a major focus on bleeding control.
Working with Ukrainian paramedics and linguists is vital to responding to community calls for training. No matter if it’s 5 people or 105 people, the team gives every person the opportunity to pack a wound and apply a tourniquet.
That’s where TrueClot® comes in. Each person gets trained to ‘stop a bleed’ with TrueClot’s wound packer trainers, tourniquet application trainers, and simulant clotting blood – an experience as close to the real thing as possible.
Many of the volunteers are retired special operations veterans with a new mission to bring this critical assistance to places where other humanitarian agencies aren’t equipped to go. “They are mission ready all the time,” explained Madison Rudman, a volunteer administrator with TFA. “They’re ready to protect the most vulnerable people and are empowered by TFA to turn their military experience into positive outcomes.”
Volunteer Kris agreed. “I have 30 years of military experience. Now I’m putting that experience to different use. I’ve got peace-of-mind knowing we’re helping civilians learn how to deal with loss of blood – the number one preventable cause of death. Instead of taking lives, now we’re saving them.”
Critical bleeding injuries can occur anywhere. To find out about bleeding control training near you, check out Stop the Bleed resources at Training Program – Stop the Bleed Coalition and Training | Stop the Bleed. Bleeding control training is also provided by many independent medical training companies.
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