Introduction of the Prevent Blood Loss with Emergency Equipment Devices Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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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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