A program that trains students how to deal with excessive bleeding is being offered throughout the state in an effort to address the ever-more-common acts of gun violence.
“Stop the Bleed” offered by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence teaches students how to deal with a serious wound that might occur, as today’s students deal with shelter-in-place drills, the presence of weapons at parties and threats at other social and school events.
“It teaches youth how to, one, apply a tourniquet and, two, what to do with a bullet wound,” Miranda Viscoli, copresident of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, told KOB 4 News. “But it’s also good not just for a shooting, but also a car accident, any kind of accident where there’s a lot of bleeding.”
Viscoli told KOB 4 News that gun violence is the leading cause of death for children in New Mexico and in the U.S., and students need to be prepared. She believes “Stop the Bleed” should be in as many schools in New Mexico as possible.
“Every party a kid goes to right now, there’s usually a gun,” Viscoli said, according to KOB 4 News. “We see a ridiculous amount of school shootings, but I also think it gives our youth an opportunity to feel a little bit safer.”
South Valley Academy juniors Janae Martinez and Kyra Hendren underwent "Stop the Bleed" training while simultaneously wishing the world was safer.
“I think it’s very troublesome that our students here, especially at South Valley Academy, have to worry about if something’s going to happen at our school,” Martinez told KOB 4 News.
Hendren told the news station, “We do discuss what we would do in those situations, and I feel like that’s something we shouldn’t have to discuss. We shouldn’t need an exit route. We should feel safe here where we learn.”
