Uncontrolled bleeding is the primary cause of preventable deaths.

About 40 percent of trauma-related deaths globally are due to bleeding or its consequences, proving hemorrhage as the most common cause of preventable death in trauma, according to the Stop the Bleed Coalition.

So when the general public knows how to control bleeding in an injured person, it increases the chances that more people will survive injuries.

Robert D. Campbell Junior High School staff learned more about controlling bleeding Tuesday during a “Stop the Bleed” training course. It’s all part of a goal to increase school safety, especially in the wake of so many mass shootings, Renee Montes, a science teacher at Campbell, said.

The Stop the Bleed program is a part of the American College of Surgeons, Department of Homeland Security and others’ national awareness campaign. It is meant to encourage people to get trained and equipped to help in an emergency before first responders arrive.

Montes said she learned about the program while teaching in Orlando, Florida.

“When the Parkland shooting happened, like two hours away, our high school there was looking into it,” Montes said.

When she moved to Winchester, she started pushing the program not knowing the fire department was already working on it. Montes discovered Winchester Fire-EMS was working on the training after she enrolled in EMT school, so they decided to partner to ensure the program gets put in place.

“The more people who are working on it, the better,” Montes said.

Montes taught the class alongside Winchester Fire-EMS paramedic Jacob Allen and Clark Regional Medical Center medic Brian Plank.

Allen said the class goes hand in hand with CPR classes as the public are often “first responders” on the scene and can help save a person’s life.

Throughout the class, staff learned skills like packing a gunshot wound and using a tourniquet.

Allen said they are looking to secure funding to allow Clark County to expand the training and provide kits. For Tuesday’s course, CRMC provided kits for Campbell.

Campbell is first on the list as Allen and Montes said they would like to teach the classes to as many people as they can.

“It would be amazing if we could train every teacher in the district,” Montes said.

Allen said the goal is for every school in the district to have at least one Stop the Bleed kit with the tools someone would need in case of an emergency.

Last year, Anderson County schools provided training for district staff as well as provided kits for every classroom. That’s a goal Clark County should aspire to, Allen said.

“My goal is to make the school safe, as safe as possible,” Montes said of bringing the program to Campbell.