Stop the Bleed
A national public awareness and training program that teaches civilians the basics of life-threatening bleeding control, built on the doctrinal foundation of the Hartford Consensus.
In the Field
Stop the Bleed changed the conversation. Before 2015, bleeding control was something EMS handled when they arrived. After Sandy Hook and a string of other mass casualty events, it became clear that bystanders and teachers and coworkers were going to be the first ones on the scene, and the ones the patient needed most. A good Stop the Bleed class is two to three hours, hands-on, and leaves you able to perform three skills under stress. A bad one is a slide deck with no practice and a certificate at the end. Ask what the hands-on portion looks like before you book it.
Common Mistake
Treating the completion certificate as the goal rather than the skills retention. A certificate from a class without hands-on practice is documentation, not capability.
Technical Detail
History. The Stop the Bleed initiative was launched in October 2015 by the Obama administration and the National Security Council, in partnership with the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma. The program is the operational implementation of the Hartford Consensus, a series of expert recommendations published between 2013 and 2019 in response to the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The Hartford Consensus established the foundational principle that bystanders should be trained and equipped to control life-threatening bleeding, and Stop the Bleed was the program designed to deliver that training at national scale. See the Hartford Consensus entry for the underlying doctrinal framework.
Curriculum. The core Stop the Bleed course is short, skills-focused, and designed for civilians with no medical background. It teaches three primary interventions:
Direct pressure. Applying firm, sustained pressure to a bleeding wound using gloved hands or available material.
Wound packing. Using hemostatic gauze or plain gauze to pack deep wounds until bleeding stops, then maintaining pressure.
Tourniquet application. Correctly placing and tightening a commercial tourniquet (typically a CAT or SOFTT-W) on an extremity to stop arterial bleeding.
The curriculum includes brief background on why bleeding control matters, how to recognize life-threatening bleeding, when to call 911, and how to integrate with arriving professional responders.
Format. A standard Stop the Bleed course is typically 2 to 3 hours, delivered by an American College of Surgeons-affiliated instructor. The course balances classroom instruction with hands-on practice, with the hands-on portion being the most important part. Skills practice typically uses training tourniquets, simulated wound packing trainers, and gauze.
Certification. Completion produces an ACS Stop the Bleed completion record. The certification reflects course completion, not formal medical credentialing. It is widely recognized as evidence of bystander bleeding control training.
Deployment. Stop the Bleed stations, consisting of wall-mounted bleeding control kits, are now installed in many schools, houses of worship, airports, stadiums, transit hubs, and public venues, often alongside automated external defibrillators (AEDs). A typical Stop the Bleed station contains gloves, gauze, a commercial tourniquet, and instructional cards.
Adoption and policy. Multiple U.S. states have passed legislation requiring or recommending Stop the Bleed training in schools, public buildings, and certain workplace categories. Federal grant guidance for active shooter and mass casualty preparedness frequently references Stop the Bleed deployment.
The program is administered through ACS and supported by partner organizations including the National Association of EMTs, the Department of Homeland Security, state-level public health agencies, and (for instructor authorization) various certified training centers.
For agencies and program planners. Stop the Bleed is the entry-level training tier in the modern bleeding control training continuum. The progression typically continues:
Stop the Bleed. Bystander level. 2 to 3 hours.
TECC for First Responders. First responder level (security, school resource officers, civilian first responders). Half-day to full-day.
TECC Provider. EMS, fire, and law enforcement provider level. Typically 16 hours.
TCCC tiered training (ASM, CLS, CMC, CPP). Military and advanced civilian tactical paramedic levels.
For procurement officers and program planners, Stop the Bleed represents the foundation of a community bleeding control program. Building from this foundation typically involves additional capability layers (TECC training for first responders, advanced training for designated tactical medics) and corresponding equipment programs (Stop the Bleed kits at public venues, TECC-level aid bags for first responders, advanced kits for tactical medics).
PTS context. Penn Tactical Solutions delivers Stop the Bleed instruction as part of an integrated training portfolio that includes TECC and other tactical medical courses. Stop the Bleed classes for businesses, schools, houses of worship, and community organizations are a routine part of the training calendar.
Curriculum. The core Stop the Bleed course is short, skills-focused, and designed for civilians with no medical background. It teaches three primary interventions:
Direct pressure. Applying firm, sustained pressure to a bleeding wound using gloved hands or available material.
Wound packing. Using hemostatic gauze or plain gauze to pack deep wounds until bleeding stops, then maintaining pressure.
Tourniquet application. Correctly placing and tightening a commercial tourniquet (typically a CAT or SOFTT-W) on an extremity to stop arterial bleeding.
The curriculum includes brief background on why bleeding control matters, how to recognize life-threatening bleeding, when to call 911, and how to integrate with arriving professional responders.
Format. A standard Stop the Bleed course is typically 2 to 3 hours, delivered by an American College of Surgeons-affiliated instructor. The course balances classroom instruction with hands-on practice, with the hands-on portion being the most important part. Skills practice typically uses training tourniquets, simulated wound packing trainers, and gauze.
Certification. Completion produces an ACS Stop the Bleed completion record. The certification reflects course completion, not formal medical credentialing. It is widely recognized as evidence of bystander bleeding control training.
Deployment. Stop the Bleed stations, consisting of wall-mounted bleeding control kits, are now installed in many schools, houses of worship, airports, stadiums, transit hubs, and public venues, often alongside automated external defibrillators (AEDs). A typical Stop the Bleed station contains gloves, gauze, a commercial tourniquet, and instructional cards.
Adoption and policy. Multiple U.S. states have passed legislation requiring or recommending Stop the Bleed training in schools, public buildings, and certain workplace categories. Federal grant guidance for active shooter and mass casualty preparedness frequently references Stop the Bleed deployment.
The program is administered through ACS and supported by partner organizations including the National Association of EMTs, the Department of Homeland Security, state-level public health agencies, and (for instructor authorization) various certified training centers.
For agencies and program planners. Stop the Bleed is the entry-level training tier in the modern bleeding control training continuum. The progression typically continues:
Stop the Bleed. Bystander level. 2 to 3 hours.
TECC for First Responders. First responder level (security, school resource officers, civilian first responders). Half-day to full-day.
TECC Provider. EMS, fire, and law enforcement provider level. Typically 16 hours.
TCCC tiered training (ASM, CLS, CMC, CPP). Military and advanced civilian tactical paramedic levels.
For procurement officers and program planners, Stop the Bleed represents the foundation of a community bleeding control program. Building from this foundation typically involves additional capability layers (TECC training for first responders, advanced training for designated tactical medics) and corresponding equipment programs (Stop the Bleed kits at public venues, TECC-level aid bags for first responders, advanced kits for tactical medics).
PTS context. Penn Tactical Solutions delivers Stop the Bleed instruction as part of an integrated training portfolio that includes TECC and other tactical medical courses. Stop the Bleed classes for businesses, schools, houses of worship, and community organizations are a routine part of the training calendar.