{"id":68017,"date":"2025-05-25T10:58:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T16:58:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=68017"},"modified":"2025-05-27T09:54:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T15:54:09","slug":"how-to-save-a-life-3-ways-to-prepare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/how-to-save-a-life-3-ways-to-prepare\/","title":{"rendered":"How to save a life: 3 ways to prepare"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While setting goals to eat healthier, exercise more or lose weight is important, why not aim for something even more impactful?<\/p>\n

Consider learning how to save a life.<\/p>\n

The skills you gain from attending a Stop the Bleed or CPR workshop, or taking a little time out of your day to donate blood, can make a significant impact in emergencies. These actions not only enhance your ability to respond in critical situations and offer life-saving support but also complement your overall health and wellness journey.<\/p>\n

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Learn how to save a life by attending a free Stop the Bleed workshop that will teach you how to pack a wound and use a tourniquet. Photo by Kathryn Scott for UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Attend a Stop the Bleed workshop<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma, said Cindy Joseph, trauma outreach and education manager for UCHealth in northern Colorado.<\/p>\n

“A person can lose almost all their blood volume in under five minutes \u2014 that’s the biggest motivating factor in learning Step the Bleed concepts and skills,” Joseph said.<\/p>\n

Throughout northern and southern Colorado, people can sign up for a free, 50-minute Stop the Bleed course that provides education about skills needed in an emergency.

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Be prepared: Learn to Stop the Bleed during a free workshop<\/strong><\/h4>\n

UCHealth wants to educate as many Coloradans as possible on how to stop uncontrolled bleeding in emergencies. Find a workshop nearby<\/a> that works with your schedule.<\/div>\n

Joseph’s team has seen firsthand how knowledge is power.<\/p>\n

At a local job site, workers were able to pack and put pressure on a co-worker’s large wound. It stopped the bleeding enough to buy time for emergency medical personnel to arrive. The workers’ knowledge and their actions saved the man’s life. In another case, bystanders encountered a motorcycle accident and applied pressure to the rider\u2019s wound to stop his bleeding. That person also survived.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone could see uncontrolled, life-threatening hemorrhage in any area of the body. They could see an injury in an extremity, groin, armpit and head. These are areas where learning how to control hemorrhage could save a life,” Joseph said.<\/p>\n

And hands-on practice is essential. \u201cIt may sound like a simple thing to control a life-threatening hemorrhage, but a tourniquet and wound packing aren\u2019t as intuitive as they may seem,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Just like CPR, Stop the Bleed skills must be learned and rehearsed before an emergency strikes.<\/p>\n

Sign up to donate blood<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(Left) Brianna Kohlmeier, apheresis technician supervisor, and Stacy Ader, technical supervisor of donor services, hang bags of just-collected blood to drain into square filters to trap and remove white blood cells. The blood that remains will be among the regional yearly collections of 10,000 to 13,000 units that supply five Colorado hospitals. Photo by Sonya Doctorian, UCHealth.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Knowing how to stop bleeding can save someone’s life, but patients may also need donated blood to stay alive.

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Donors can use the online donor portal to schedule donation appointments at any of UCHealth’s blood donor centers or through blood drives in northern Colorado. The portal, an interactive system, also allows donors to look up their blood type, check their last donation date and gallon total, and learn of upcoming mobile blood drive opportunities.<\/p>\n

To schedule a donation,\u00a0<\/strong>create a new account on the\u00a0donor portal\u00a0<\/a>or call\u00a0970.495.8965<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Outside of northern Colorado? Find a blood donation center near you.<\/a><\/div>\n

UCHealth Garth Englund Blood Donation Center makes it easy to donate blood with three locations throughout northern Colorado:<\/p>\n