[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 7, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




INTRODUCTION OF THE PREVENT BLOOD LOSS WITH EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT DEVICES 
                              ACT OF 2019

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                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                          Tuesday, May 7, 2019

  Mr. HASTINGS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Prevent 
Blood Loss with Emergency Equipment Devices Act of 2019--the Prevent 
BLEEDing Act--legislation that would expand access to Bleeding Control 
Kits (BCKs) in public gathering places across the country. I would like 
to thank my colleague, Dr. Brad Wenstrup, for introducing this 
legislation with me, which will help to save lives during emergency 
situations.
  Approximately 214,000 people die every year from traumatic incidents. 
Motor vehicle crashes, shootings, natural disasters, and workplace 
accidents, to name just a few, oftentimes result in situations where 
people suffer traumatic blood loss. Such an injury can lead to death 
within five minutes, where many of these deaths can be prevented. The 
Prevent BLEEDing Act will help states to distribute thousands of BCKs 
to schools, libraries, places of worship, concert venues, shopping 
malls, and any other place where people gather, while providing staff 
and volunteers at these facilities with the necessary training to 
utilize the materials.
  Following the disaster at Sandy Hook in December 2012, the American 
College of Surgeons (ACS) as well as others in the medical community, 
the federal government, and the U.S. military, convened the Joint 
Committee to Create a National Policy to Enhance Survivability from 
Active Shooter Events and Intentional Mass Casualty. The committee's 
recommendations are called the Hartford Consensus, and they led to the 
establishment of the Stop the Bleed Program, a national awareness 
campaign to train and equip everyday Americans with the skills to help 
in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives. To date, Stop 
the Bleed has trained nearly 125,000 Americans anti blood-loss skills, 
empowering them to help prevent unnecessary deaths from blood loss.
  This legislation builds on that program's successes by amending the 
Homeland Security Act of 2002 to make it easier for states to apply for 
BCKs through the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP). By making 
these materials more accessible during times of disaster, bystanders 
with little or no medical training can save lives when confronted with 
traumatic injury, similar to the use of CPR or automatic defibrillators 
(AEDs).
  Madam Speaker, this bill will help save lives. We can't prevent 
disasters, but we can help to ensure we are ready to respond to them. I 
urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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