Mercy Health System, Janesville Police / Fire, provide casualty training to high school faculty

New grant enables all Janesville schools to get training by the end of 2015

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Nov 27, 2014, 01:07 ET

JANESVILLE, Wis., Nov. 27, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Javon Bea Mercy Health System President and CEO - On November 19, faculty and staff at Janesville Craig High School and Janesville Parker High School received casualty care training from Mercy Health System physicians and Janesville Police and Janesville Fire Departments and the Janesville School District. The event was part of the Casualty Care Program, dedicated to providing schools and other organizations with the resources needed to respond quickly and appropriately in an emergency situation.

Following the table top exercise, Mercy Health System, the Janesville Police/Fire Departments and the Janesville School District teamed up to research, develop, refine, and deliver lifesaving Classroom Casualty Care kits and related training to all teachers in the City of Janesville.

In development of the training, Mercy Health System emergency medicine physician and associate EMS director Dr. Christopher Wistrom, DO, noted that the most prevalent cause of preventable death during a mass casualty incident is bleeding. "Rapid blood loss can lead to shock. Time is of the essence. We want our teachers to feel confident in hemorrhage control. Training them to be confident on-site first responders can buy time, and potentially save lives, until EMTs or paramedics can safely reach the classroom."

Every classroom at both Janesville high schools received a Classroom Casualty Care kit. Each kit includes an information card and hemorrhage control supplies. A complementary Classroom Casualty Care Instructor kit provides training materials, including access to a training video. Funding for the high school kits was made possible thanks to a grant secured by the Janesville School District earlier this year. A second $10,000 grant from the Janesville Generations Fund, a component of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, Inc. will allow the Casualty Care Program to provide kits for all Janesville grade, middle and private, parochial and Montessori school classrooms.

"This project empowers citizens in a smart and straightforward way," said Bryan Steil, Janesville Generations Fund Board President. "We are proud that our first grant has gone to a project that will make an immediate impact locally. As the Janesville Generations Fund grows, we hope to make additional grants that directly impact our community."

Mercy Health System supplies the Casualty Care kit bags and information cards, and purchases kit supplies at cost. Mercy will manage the creation and distribution of the kits at cost to all Janesville area schools - high schools, middle schools, grade schools and private schools - and assist other interested schools and organizations in its service area, including Rock, Walworth, McHenry and Winnebago Counties and are exploring national model role out.

The November 19 training instructed Janesville high school faculty and other staff on how to use the kits and appropriately respond in an emergency. Mercy physicians, along with members of the Janesville Police Department and Janesville Fire Department, served as trainers.

"The Casualty Care kit is comprehensive but simple - it can be used by anyone. The task force designed the kits with all schools in mind, and hope it may serve as a model," said Dr. Wistrom. "Truly the biggest advantage of the program is the hands-on first responder training that goes along with the kit. That is invaluable. We all hope we never need to use it, but should a mass casualty situation arise we want everyone to be prepared."

The Casualty Care in the Classroom task force was formed in January in response to an active shooter tabletop drill mediated by the FBI last winter with participants from all city services and other local agencies.

About the Janesville Generations Fund: The Janesville Generations Fund, a component of the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin, is a permanently endowed fund which serves as a flexible source of support for charitable projects in Janesville. The goal of the fund is to ensure funding for current community initiatives as well as to inspire donors to leave a lasting legacy in the community through contributions in any amount. For more information on the Janesville Generations Fund or to make a gift to the fund, contact Jane Maldonis, donor services representative for the Community Foundation of Southern Wisconsin at 608-758-0883 or [email protected]

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SOURCE Mercy Health System