CHICAGO: Actors from two popular medical TV dramas have joined efforts with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to spread lifesaving STOP THE BLEED® information to the people of Ukraine through a new Public Service Announcement (PSA) released today.
The PSA quickly shows that anyone can learn how to stop serious bleeding in just three quick steps—buying precious time until professional medical attention is available. If serious bleeding is not controlled quickly, an injured person can bleed to death in as little as 5 minutes.
The PSA features Ryan Eggold from “New Amsterdam” (NBC/Universal), and Sophia Bush from “Good Sam” (CBS), as well as costars Alejandro Hernandez, Conner Marx, Freema Agyeman, Janet Montgomery, Jocko Sims and Sandra Mae Frank. Michael Seitzman (Maniac Productions founder) created the 1:30 spot with input from physicians from the American College of Surgeons, American Red Cross, the Uniformed Services University’s National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Mass General.
The PSA displays Ukrainian subtitles so that it can be used and understood in war-torn Ukraine, where it can be difficult to receive immediate medical attention due to conditions on the ground. Citizens can use the critical information from this PSA to address bleeding injuries as they wait for medical help. Ukrainian-born surgeon Nelya Melnitchouk, MD, FACS, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston translated the script for the PSA and has developed other training videos in Ukrainian that can be accessed via the Internet in Ukraine.
Through STOP THE BLEED® instruction, participants gain the ability to recognize life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively. Through three simple techniques—applying direct pressure, packing a wound, or applying a tourniquet—anyone can become an immediate responder and potentially be the difference between life and death for someone who is bleeding.
“New Amsterdam” star Ryan Eggold sets the scene for providing “information on how to stop a bleed when you don’t have access to a medical professional,” while “Good Sam’s” Sophia Bush begins the narration for the first technique before they hand off the other sequence of instructions to their costars.
“This PSA is going to help save lives because more people will be aware of the simple steps they can take to address uncontrolled bleeding. We are extremely grateful to these well-known television personalities for raising the profile of these critical skills, especially as we all work to support the people of Ukraine,” said Patricia L. Turner, MD, MBA, FACS, ACS Executive Director. “Anything that can be done to stop bleeding will give an injured person a better chance of survival. Sharing this message broadly, particularly with Ukrainian subtitles, is essential right now. As people view the message, they will realize these skills can be learned quickly by anyone, whether here in the U.S., or anywhere in the world.”
Other medical organizations supporting the PSA include the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Heart Association, Trauma Center Association of American, Children’s Hospital Association, Stop the Bleed Coalition, and Stop the Bleed Education Consortium.
This PSA is another concerted effort to get STOP THE BLEED® training to people in Ukraine. Roxolana Horbowyj, MD, FACS, a Philadelphia-based surgeon, has been teaching STOP THE BLEED® directly to people in Ukraine via Zoom-based training since late February. Dr. Horbowyj has seen the number of attendees in her courses rise as the war conditions have worsened, creating a pressing need for disseminating this information.
"We know bleeding is the foremost reason that injured people die. It's very much our belief that this training can save lives in Ukraine, which is why we're doing this," said Dr. Horbowyj in a recent article in The Independent.
STOP THE BLEED® was launched in October of 2015 by the White House, with a call to action to begin training more people to become immediate responders during a bleeding emergency until professional help arrives on the scene. The ACS STOP THE BLEED® program is operated under a licensing agreement granted by the Department of Defense.
The ACS estimates that to date nearly 2 million people have received STOP THE BLEED® training. To find a training course online or in person visit: www.stopthebleed.org.
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About the American College of Surgeons
The American College of Surgeons is a scientific and educational organization of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to raise the standards of surgical practice and improve the quality of care for all surgical patients. The College is dedicated to the ethical and competent practice of surgery. Its achievements have significantly influenced the course of scientific surgery in America and have established it as an important advocate for all surgical patients. The College has more than 84,000 members and is the largest organization of surgeons in the world. “FACS” designates a surgeon is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
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