New ‘Stop the Bleed’ kits equip York Co. teachers for worst-case scenarios

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - In this day and age, when mass shootings seem commonplace, one local district is giving teachers new “Stop The Bleed” kits to take care of students in a “worst-case” emergency.

Kevin Queen is Director of Safety, Security, and Transportation for York District One, which serves about 5,200 students.

“The kits are going to make sure our teachers are prepared in that worst-case emergency. That our school and all the teachers in our schools carry those with them - that level of preparedness is so important,” Queen said of the new kits.

York District One was originally given twelve “Stop The Bleed Kits" from the Department of Education. But they felt in a real emergency, the teachers are going to be the ones who need to make sure to stop the bleeding if a child has serious injuries.

Crystal Nichols is a school nurse at Harold C. Johnson Elementary.

“The ‘Stop The Bleed’ campaign’s, the biggest piece of that puzzle is the tourniquet that is in there. That is going to be your biggest way to stop the bleeding on those extremities. With 480 children at this school, 12 kits is going to help 12 individuals. Hoping not all of them are going to need emergency assistance. But the more you can have and the more prepared you can be, the better. So having a kit in each room, having the best care and the quickest care, is at our advantage,” Nichols said.

Clair Britt has taught within the district for 17 years. When we met her inside her Kindergarten classroom, she was wearing one of the clear bags and described what is inside.

“I carry my emergency preparedness bag wherever I go. In it is a roster of our students - who is at school that day, who is absent. It has each student’s medical history. We have a checklist, so anytime we have a drill we check off who was present and who was absent. That way we know exactly where they are,” Britt explained.

It also includes the tools Britt and other teachers will need to address serious injuries. Each teacher in the district has been trained on how to use things like the tourniquets inside.

The district teamed up with a company called Tactical Medical Solutions to make an affordable version of the kits the district was given by the Department of Education.

Once they figured out what they needed in their kits, parents of students in the district applied for a grant from Duke Energy. That money helped pay for the kits.

By the nature of their work, teachers must be prepared. Now that preparedness must include training on how to tend to serious wounds on a child.

“I feel like the district has provided us with the tools that we can take care of ourselves and take care of our students should an emergency arise," Britt said. "That makes us feel more protected as educators.”

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