“Stop Taking Photos and Save Lives,” University President Urges

It’s better to stop a person from bleeding to death at the scene of a traffic accident than to take photos and circulate them, Dr. Lincoln Edwards, president of Northern Caribbean University (NCU), noted during the launch of “Stop the Bleed,” a training initiative that took place recently on the NCU campus. Dozens of students, health professionals, and community members were in attendance.

Stop the Bleed educates people with no medical training on how to perform basic bleeding control, or B-CON, in order to save the lives of victims of traffic accidents.

Stop the Bleed is one of the largest public health campaigns in the United States. Bleeding out is identified as the main cause of death in many traffic accidents and other medical emergencies. By launching the program in Jamaica on January 5, NCU joins in the global cause to prevent death by bleeding.

“We are joining forces with all those entities that are doing this [saving lives] so that corporately, we can help to reduce fatalities,” said Edwards. It was important to include this life-saving initiative that can equip the larger community to make a difference when accidents happen, he added.

According to national statistics, over the last 48 years, road traffic accidents have claimed the lives of 17,118 people in Jamaica. Just recently, the head of the Public Safety and Traffic Enforcement Branch of the Jamaica Constabulary Force appealed to motorists to follow road rules in order to reduce traffic crashes. In 2021, 483 Jamaicans died on the nation’s roads in 435 crashes. The number of crashes has increased by 12 percent when compared to 2020.

Edwards asserted that it was possible for every Jamaican who wants life-saving training to obtain it. He argued that with over 700 Seventh-day Adventist churches in Jamaica, along with other denominational churches and several civic groups, the network to expand the Stop the Bleed training program is possible.

In addition to the training, attendees were also registered to participate in a series of webinars in trauma and simulation in nursing education. At the end of the training, all trainees received certification and would be able to function as B-CON trainers, organizers said.

Dr. Luis Llerena indicated Stop the Bleed is the first of its kind in Jamaica and said it was conceptualized by a Jamaican doctor, Lenworth Jacobs.

In presenting an overview of the Basic Bleeding Control training, Dr. Llerena emphasized its importance in life-threatening situations: “It will help Jamaicans help other Jamaicans.”

The NCU School of Nursing took the initiative to bring the course to Jamaica since one of their current faculty members has been a certified Stop the Bleed instructor. There are four registered Stop the Bleed B-CON instructors, said R. Shaun Wellington, of the Occupational Safety Health Office at NCU. The initiative will be taught to the community every week until the end of June, university leaders said.

To learn more about the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Northern Caribbean University and its programs and initiatives, visit NCU.edu.jm.

This article was originally published on the Inter-American Division’s website