Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14EAST news | 2017 Issue 1 4 In many cases, bleeding is a preventable cause of death. The ability to recognize life- threatening hemorrhage and the ability to intervene effectively can save a life. Whether the injury was the result of a mass shooting or a home accident, one person who is there at the right time and has the right skills can make all the difference. As a direct result of the Sandy Hook School shootings that occurred in 2012, the American College of Surgeons partnered with law enforcement and other interested national organizations to develop the Hartford Consensus. The objective was to improve survival following mass shootings and other intentional acts of mass violence and included empowering and equipping civilians to take life-saving action when the need arises, regardless of the situation. The Bleeding Control Basic (B-con) course evolved as a major component of this national outreach. Just like CPR training, a civilian familiar with basic bleeding control techniques can save a life. The effort to make this training available to the public is driven by the goal to reduce or eliminate preventable death from bleeding. The B-Con course was developed for a non-medical audience to address the needs of the “immediate responder”. The course takes between 60 and 90 minutes to complete and it can be offered in many varied settings. In addition to the life- saving material presented during this training, the course offers trauma centers an excellent venue for outreach to the communities they serve. At their 30th EAST Annual Scientific Assembly in January, EAST members had the opportunity to learn more about this exciting program and were offered the tools necessary to become instructors and to bring this course home to their communities. More than two hundred B-Con instructors were trained during the assembly. The partnership between EAST and the American College of Surgeons-Committee on Trauma is an important step toward making this life-saving information both available and accessible to the public. For more information about this national initiative, please contact Marie Gilliam at the American College of Surgeons- Committee on Trauma at (312) 202-5376 or visit BleedingControl.org EAST partners with the ACS-Committee on Trauma to train B-Con Instructors Mark L. Gestring, MD, FACS