Oldham County High students learn life-saving first-aid techniques to 'Stop the Bleed'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Dozens of Oldham County High School students got hands-on training Thursday to help stop severe wounds from bleeding to death.

UofL Hospital's trauma outreach and education coordinator hosted the "Stop the Bleed" training program at OCHS. The goal was to teach students how to help when a person is in danger of bleeding to death, which can happen in less than five minutes.

"One of my students was actually in a real-case scenario at a restaurant he was working at, and someone had had a bad accident with one of their digits," said Reid Coulston, a culinary instructor at the school.

Pictured: Reid Coulston at Oldham County High School on Feb. 24, 2022.

Coulston said the student, confident in skills learned after taking part in the program, "got the first aid kit, took care of the problem until EMS could get there, and afterwards sent me a letter saying 'thank you so much for having us come to this program or else I could not have helped my fellow worker.'"

There were three sessions at the school Thursday with approximately 68 students in each class. Students interested in careers in nursing, culinary and sports medicine took part in the training sessions.