On our Midday Maryland Segment, Suzannah Ward, MPH – Coordinator of Comprehensive Health Education at the Maryland State Department of Education – and Justin Graves, MS MBA, RN – Director of Trauma Programs at the University of Maryland R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center – shared with host, Elsa M, about their work to have Stop the Bleed in Maryland High Schools Health Curriculum.
Maryland is taking an important step toward preparing students to respond to emergencies through its revised Comprehensive Health Education Framework. The framework includes lifesaving bleeding-control skills as part of the high school Health I curriculum, giving students the opportunity to learn practical skills that can make a difference in the critical minutes before emergency responders arrive.
Stop the Bleed teaches students how to recognize life-threatening bleeding and respond using simple, evidence-based techniques such as applying direct pressure, packing a wound, and using a tourniquet when appropriate. These are skills that can be used not only in a school emergency, but also at home, in the community, or anywhere a serious injury occurs.
For Maryland’s high school students, incorporating hands-on bleeding-control education into health classes is an opportunity to build confidence, preparedness, and lifesaving skills before graduation. It also brings together Maryland’s schools, trauma centers, EMS agencies, and injury-prevention organizations around a shared goal: giving young people the knowledge and skills to help save a life when every second matters.
