INTRODUCTION OF THE PREVENT BLOOD LOSS WITH EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT DEVICES ACT OF 2019; Congressional Record Vol. 165, No. 75
(Extensions of Remarks - May 07, 2019)
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[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
INTRODUCTION OF THE PREVENT BLOOD LOSS WITH EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT DEVICES
ACT OF 2019
______
HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS
of florida
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Prevent
Blood Loss with Emergency Equipment Devices Act of 2019--the Prevent
BLEEDing Act--legislation that would expand access to Bleeding Control
Kits (BCKs) in public gathering places across the country. I would like
to thank my colleague, Dr. Brad Wenstrup, for introducing this
legislation with me, which will help to save lives during emergency
situations.
Approximately 214,000 people die every year from traumatic incidents.
Motor vehicle crashes, shootings, natural disasters, and workplace
accidents, to name just a few, oftentimes result in situations where
people suffer traumatic blood loss. Such an injury can lead to death
within five minutes, where many of these deaths can be prevented. The
Prevent BLEEDing Act will help states to distribute thousands of BCKs
to schools, libraries, places of worship, concert venues, shopping
malls, and any other place where people gather, while providing staff
and volunteers at these facilities with the necessary training to
utilize the materials.
Following the disaster at Sandy Hook in December 2012, the American
College of Surgeons (ACS) as well as others in the medical community,
the federal government, and the U.S. military, convened the Joint
Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from
Active Shooter Events and Intentional Mass Casualty. The committee's
recommendations are called the Hartford Consensus, and they led to the
establishment of the Stop the Bleed Program, a national awareness
campaign to train and equip everyday Americans with the skills to help
in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. To date, Stop
the Bleed has trained nearly 125,000 Americans anti blood-loss skills,
empowering them to help prevent unnecessary deaths from blood loss.
This legislation builds on that program's successes by amending the
Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make it easier for states to apply for
BCKs through the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP). By making
these materials more accessible during times of disaster, bystanders
with little or no medical training can save lives when confronted with
traumatic injury, similar to the use of CPR or automatic defibrillators
(AEDs).
Madam Speaker, this bill will help save lives. We can't prevent
disasters, but we can help to ensure we are ready to respond to them. I
urge my colleagues to support this bill.
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