Elks Lodge purchases Stop the Bleed kits for PIE

Holding the donated Stop the Bleed kits are, from left are Cpl. Wilfred Rivera; Judy Hopkins, Exalted Ruler; PER Jack Rovaldi; PER Everett Goodwin III; and Pine Island Elementary Principal Dr. Tom Millins. PHOTO PROVIDED

The Greater Pine Island Elks lodge #2781 purchased Stop The Bleed kits for the Pine Island Elementary School from its charitable trust fund. Stop to Bleed encourages teachers to be trained, equipped and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.

Stop the Bleed is one of the nation's largest public health campaigns. Its goal is to save lives by training people across the country how to stop traumatic bleeding.

The program Stop the Bleed trains the public to provide first aid for severe bleeding, whether caused by a shooting or an accident, and some parents want to see it in their children's schools. Corporal Wilfred Rivera keeps a bleeding control kit in his car in case of an emergency.

"With this kit, I could save somebody's life," he explained. "I might even be able to save two people's lives."

The kit contains supplies designed to stop severe bleeding, like gauze, pressure dressing and a tourniquet. Rivera wanted to see these kits at Pine Island Elementary school, along with staff members who are trained to use it, so he reached out to the Greater Pine Island Elks #2781 to purchase the kits for the school.

"I would like to see and know … that at least a certain percentage of the staff have had training to respond to a serious accident or a traumatic injury like a school shooting," he said.

Stop the Bleed classes provide that type of training. Stop the Bleed is a national initiative to teach anyone who wants to learn how to stop serious bleeding, buying precious time until emergency crews arrive.

Rivera, Pine Island Elementary Safety Officer, is an instructor.

"We plan for the worst-case scenario, so the worst-case scenario is an active shooter situation," he said. "A lot of this came out of mass casualty events like Sandy Hook. It takes a little bit for first responders to get into places like that — so the more people that we teach how to just hold pressure or do simple techniques to stop the bleeding, the better off we are."

For additional information about the Greater Pine Island Elks #2781, please call 239-283-4388.

As part of the Emergency Restoration of the Pine Island Road Causeway and Bridge, motorists can expect temporary, ...