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JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) — The Janesville School District is teaching its employees how to treat victims in school shootings and other medical emergency situations through education and preparedness.
All 1,200 school officials will receive training in tourniquet application, the Janesville Gazette (http://bit.ly/Y2jbMi ) reported. Kevin Olin, a school resource officer at Marshall Middle School, said he hopes the training will empower teachers to realize they can make a difference amid an emergency.
The school district has teamed up with the Janesville fire and police departments, as well as Mercy Health System, to provide about 900 kits to local schools that can aid in an active shooter situation. The Casualty Care Classroom Kits were first used last winter during an FBI-mediated tabletop exercise.
The kit can be used by anyone, Olin said, and would also be helpful in the event of a tornado or explosion. Its includes tools that can stop bleeding, including materials to pack a wound, pressure dressings, gauze and a tourniquet, and prevent trauma deaths.
The kit has the potential to become a national model, said Dr. Christopher Wistrom, emergency medicine physician and associate EMS medical director for Mercy Health System.
"Probably the biggest advantage of the kit is not the kit itself, it's probably the education that goes along with it," he said.
A Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction grant is paying for some of the kits, which cost about $10, and the Janesville School District plans to secure funding for the rest. The training is administered by Mercy physicians and members of the police and fire departments.
School administrators have already been trained and staff members will learn tourniquet application next week.
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Information from: The Janesville Gazette, http://www.gazetteextra.com
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