The KAA’s James Fretz (l) and Killingworth First Selectwoman Cathy Iino (r) stand next to the “Stop the Bleed” station installed at Town Hall.
When the Killingworth Ambulance Association approached First Selectwoman Cathy Iino about installing a “Stop the Bleed” station in Town Hall, she never wavered with a decision.
“I would say it was a no-brainer,” she said.
Now it’s more than that. It’s a done deal.
For the second time in eight days the KAA on Thursday afternoon placed a bleeding control station in one of Killingworth’s public spaces. But unlike the first installation — which happened Aug. 9 in the Killingworth library – this one comes with a back story that involves Town Hall.
In fact, it involves Cathy Iino.
She and other Town Hall employees took a “Stop the Bleed” course in May, 2018, with Iino putting the lesson into practice this spring when she lacerated her right thumb with a kitchen knife on a cutting board. The accident involved bleeding, demanded immediate medical attention and required stitches.
In short, everything she learned in class.
“I cut myself quite seriously after that class,” she said, “so I almost … without thinking … knew to do the compression and elevation and get medical treatment quite fast.”
“Stop the Bleed” is a nationwide awareness campaign (www.bleedingcontrol.org) launched in 2015 by the White House and Department of Homeland Security and is designed to empower bystanders with the training to deal with traumatic events and emergency bleeding situations before help arrives.
The KAA first offered “Stop the Bleed” classes in July, 2017, making Killingworth the first Connecticut town to have its citizens certified. Since that time it has conducted 21 classes, with another scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9, at the Killingworth Ambulance Association on Route 81.
The class lasts one hour and is free and open to the public.
The KAA first offered bleeding control stations this month, with the KAA’s James Fretz installing the storage cases at the Killingworth library and Town Hall. Each case contains seven “Stop the Bleed” kits to treat traumatic blood loss, and each kit includes a tourniquet, gauze, quick-clot and gloves.
The KAA hopes to install more stations in the near future.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Iino said, “because we all took the ‘Stop the Bleed’ training, and we understand that time is of the essence – and that, therefore, the quicker we can take action the better.”