The Killingworth Ambulance Association resumes its “Stop the Bleed” program on Saturday, Aug. 14, with a 10 a.m. class at the KAA headquarters.

The course, the first of its kind this year, is open to all persons 13 years of age or older and is free of charge. However, interested persons are asked to bring protective face masks. If the class is held indoors, as it has been in the past, they will be required.

Instruction typically lasts 1-to-1-1/2 hours, and those who plan on attending are asked to fill out the following RSVP form, available in the “Classes” section on this site’s pull-down menu: (http://www.killingworthambulance.org/news-events/rsvp/).

“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.

Its value was underscored in October, 2019, at Vinal Tech in Middletown when a state trooper responding to an accident there implemented a “Stop the Bleed” kit to treat what was called “a catastrophic injury” involving profuse bleeding.

Officials later said the trooper’s quick thinking may have saved the victim’s life.

The KAA first offered “Stop the Bleed” classes in July, 2017, making Killingworth the first Connecticut town to have its citizens certified. Since then it has conducted 22 classes and had two “Stop the Bleed” stations installed at the Killingworth Town Hall and Public Library.

For more information please contact the KAA at (860) 663-2450.