A serious bleeding emergency does not leave much time to wonder what to do next. In those first few minutes, the person with the best chance to change the outcome may be a neighbor, coworker, parent, teacher, passerby, or anyone close enough to act.
That message felt especially fitting on May 21, 2026, National STOP THE BLEED® Day, when the Rochester Fire Department hosted the training led by Santos Cruz, Community Risk Reduction Firefighter. About 25 people attended, including the full Ready Rochester board, to learn how to recognize severe bleeding and respond before first responders arrive.
The training was hands-on, direct, and eye-opening. We practiced the basics of bleeding control, talked through real-world scenarios, and learned why simple actions like calling 911, applying pressure, packing a wound, or using a tourniquet can make a life-or-death difference.
By the end of the class, one thing was clear: these are skills more people in our community should know.
Why STOP THE BLEED® Matters
Two statistics from the training stood out immediately:
- Uncontrolled bleeding can kill in less than five minutes.
- Trauma is the leading cause of death for people under 45.
Those are hard numbers to sit with, but they explain why this training matters. In a serious bleeding emergency, waiting passively for help may not be enough. First responders are trained, equipped, and ready, but they still need time to get there. The person already on scene may be the one who can buy those critical minutes.
That was one of Santos’ strongest messages. One of the best things first responders can arrive to is a citizen who has already started taking action. Not someone trying to be a doctor. Not someone doing everything perfectly. Just someone who recognized the emergency, called 911, and started using the skills they had learned.
As Santos put it, that early action can help give someone a fighting chance and help first responders bring “one less body to the morgue.”
It was blunt. It was also exactly the kind of reminder that makes this training stick.
The ABCs of Bleeding Control
The ABCs of Bleeding Control
One of the easiest things to remember from STOP THE BLEED® is a simple three-step framework: alert, find the bleeding, and compress.
Alert 911
Call 911 as soon as possible. Know where you are, explain what happened, and follow the dispatcher’s instructions.
Bleeding
Find where the person is bleeding. Look for continuous bleeding, large amounts of blood, or blood pooling on the ground.
Compress
Once you find the bleeding, apply pressure. This may mean direct pressure, packing a deep wound, or using a tourniquet.
This simple framework is part of what makes the training so useful. In an emergency, most people are not going to remember a complicated checklist. But they can remember: call 911, find the bleeding, compress.
Arterial vs. Venous Bleeding
We also talked about the difference between arterial and venous bleeding.
Arterial bleeding comes from an artery, where blood is under higher pressure as it moves away from the heart. It may pulse or spurt with the heartbeat, and it can become life-threatening very quickly.
Venous bleeding comes from a vein, where blood is moving back toward the heart. It may flow more steadily, but it can still be dangerous if the bleeding is heavy or does not stop.
The big takeaway was not that everyday people need to perfectly identify the type of bleeding. The priority is recognizing when bleeding is serious and taking action quickly.
Staying Calm Can Help the Person You’re Helping
One lesson that stuck with us was the importance of helping the injured person stay as calm and still as possible.
When someone is scared, panicking, or in pain, their heart beats faster. A faster heart rate can move blood through the body more quickly, which is especially concerning when someone is already losing blood.
Your voice matters while you help. Speak clearly. Give simple instructions. Reassure them that help is coming. Encourage them to stay still if they can.
This is especially important with children. Children naturally tend to have faster heart rates than adults, and they may become frightened more quickly. In those moments, staying calm yourself can help them stay calmer while you work to control the bleeding and wait for first responders.
Pressure and Packing
The hands-on part of the training made the skills feel much more real.
For some injuries, direct pressure may be enough. The key is to press directly on the source of the bleeding and keep pressure there.
For deeper wounds, pressure on the surface may not reach the actual source of the bleeding. That is where wound packing comes in. The idea is to pack gauze or cloth tightly into the wound, then hold firm pressure over it.
Having sterile gauze nearby is ideal, but don’t worry about causing an infection. If a ripped shirt or dirty towel is all you have, use it. Stopping the bleed is more important than worrying about an infection later on. They’ll take care of it when they get to the hospital.
When Packing a Wound Isn’t Enough
For severe bleeding from an arm or leg, a tourniquet may be needed.
We practiced how to place and tighten one, and Santos made a point that people should know ahead of time: tourniquets hurt.
It often means they are tight enough to do their job.
Tourniquets were often avoided historically because people were afraid they would cause someone to lose a limb.
That fear still makes some people hesitate.
But Santos framed it in the practical terms that matter in the moment: if the choice is between someone bleeding out or the possibility of limb damage, the immediate threat is the bleeding.
A properly applied tourniquet can often stay on for up to about two hours before permanent damage becomes a major concern, which is why timing matters. Once a tourniquet is applied, first responders need to know when it went on. Many modern tourniquets now include a TIME: label for this exact reason, and some even have a pen built into the latch so the time can be written directly on the tourniquet.
Tourniquet Basics to Remember
For severe bleeding from an arm or leg, a tourniquet may help control bleeding until first responders arrive.
Place it above the wound
Place the tourniquet 2 to 3 inches above the wound when possible.
Avoid joints
Do not place the tourniquet directly over an elbow or knee.
Tighten until bleeding stops
Tourniquets hurt, but they need to be tight enough to stop the bleeding.
Do not remove it
Once a tourniquet is on, leave it in place and wait for emergency help.
Bleeding Control in Children
The training also covered what to do if the injured person is a child.
In many cases, the same basic approach applies: direct pressure, wound packing when needed, and a tourniquet for severe bleeding from an arm or leg. For very small children or infants, where a tourniquet may not fit properly, direct pressure can be especially important.
This is one of the reasons we want more parents, caregivers, teachers, coaches, and community volunteers to take trainings like this. No one wants to imagine needing these skills for a child. But if something happens, knowing what to do can help you move from panic to action.
Impaled Objects and Eye Injuries
Another memorable part of the training was the discussion around impaled objects.
The general rule is: do not pull an impaled object out. Removing it can make the bleeding or injury worse. Instead, stabilize the object as best you can, control bleeding around it if possible, and wait for emergency medical help.
Santos also shared a detail that many of us had never thought about before: if someone has something impaled in one eye, cover the other eye too. Both eyes move together, so covering both can help reduce eye movement while waiting for professional care.
It was one of those small but important lessons that shows why in-person training matters. You do not just learn the obvious steps. You pick up practical details that may never occur to you otherwise.
Your Safety Comes First
The training also reinforced something that can be easy to forget when you want to help: your own safety comes first.
If the scene is unsafe, move to safety. If you can use gloves or another barrier, use them. If you are injured, you may not be able to help anyone else.
You aren’t helping if you’re rushing in blindly. Taking a breath, checking the scene, calling 911, and doing what you safely can until first responders arrive will prevent two people needing rescue (yourself and the victim).
The Bigger Takeaway
For us, the biggest lesson was simple: you do not have to be a medical professional to potentially save a life.
Serious bleeding can happen after a car crash, a fall, a workplace injury, a broken window, a power tool accident, a sports injury, or something completely unexpected. These are not skills for “someone else” to learn. They are practical community skills that any of us may need one day.
Santos encouraged everyone in the room to keep taking trainings and to encourage others to do the same. We agree. The more people in Rochester who know how to recognize severe bleeding and take action before help arrives, the stronger and safer our community becomes.
Thank you to the Rochester Fire Department for hosting this important STOP THE BLEED® training, and thank you to everyone who came out to learn alongside us.
Keep Learning With Ready Rochester
If you missed this training, don’t worry. We will continue sharing local opportunities to learn hands-on emergency skills, from STOP THE BLEED® and CPR to other preparedness and community safety trainings.
Keep an eye on our events page for upcoming classes, volunteer opportunities, and ways to get involved. Preparedness starts with ordinary people being willing to learn before those skills are needed.