Stop the Bleed is a national training program that teaches everyday people how to control severe bleeding in an emergency. Launched by the White House in October 2015, it grew out of lessons learned on the battlefield and the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The program has now trained more than 5 million people in three core skills: applying direct pressure, packing wounds, and using tourniquets.
How the Program Started
In December 2012, a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut killed 20 children and 8 adults. In the aftermath, a trauma surgeon named Lenworth Jacobs convened a panel of national experts to evaluate how emergency responses to these events could be improved. The group met multiple times, and because two early meetings took place in Hartford, Connecticut, their recommendations became known as the Hartford Consensus.
The panel drew heavily on military experience. After tourniquets became standard issue in Iraq and Afghanistan, a 2012 review confirmed a clear survival benefit. A follow-up study in 2014 showed similar benefits for civilians and identified two additional skills, direct pressure and wound packing, as simple but effective ways to control dangerous bleeding. The Hartford Consensus combined these findings into a single goal: empower bystanders to act immediately when someone is bleeding severely, regardless of the cause.
The ABCs of Bleeding Control
Stop the Bleed organizes its response around three steps, using the letters A, B, and C as a memory aid.
- A: Alert. Call 911 after confirming you are not in immediate danger yourself.
- B: Bleeding. Locate the source. Look for injuries causing blood to pool. You may need to move clothing aside to find exactly where the wound is on the body.
- C: Compress. Apply firm, direct pressure to slow the bleeding. You can use your bare hands, a shirt, a towel, or any available cloth. Push hard and hold for at least 20 minutes or until paramedics arrive.
These three steps cover most situations. For more severe injuries, the program teaches two additional techniques: wound packing and tourniquet use.
When Pressure Alone Isn’t Enough
If a wound is large or deep, simply pressing on it may not control the bleeding. In that case, the technique is to pack (stuff) the wound with cloth, gauze, or hemostatic gauze if available. You open the clothing over the wound, wipe away pooled blood so you can see the source, then push material firmly into the wound cavity. Once it’s packed, you place both hands on top and press down as hard as you can, maintaining that pressure until medical responders take over.
Hemostatic gauze, sometimes called bleeding control gauze, is preferred because it contains agents that help blood clot faster. But plain gauze or clean cloth works too. The pressure matters more than the material.
How Tourniquets Work
Tourniquets are used when the bleeding is on an arm or leg and pressure or packing isn’t stopping it. A tourniquet is a band that cinches tightly around a limb to cut off blood flow below that point.
Place a tourniquet two to three inches above the wound, between the wound and the heart. Never place it directly on the wound or over a joint like the elbow or knee. Once positioned, twist the windlass rod until bleeding stops. This will be painful for the injured person, but you should keep tightening until the bleeding stops or you physically cannot twist any further.
One critical rule: once a tourniquet is on, do not remove it. Only a medical professional should loosen or take off a tourniquet. Removing it prematurely can cause a sudden, dangerous rush of blood loss. If you have a permanent marker (standard kits include one), write the time of application on the tourniquet or on the person’s skin so the medical team knows how long it’s been in place.
Bleeding in Hard-to-Reach Areas
Some injuries bleed from places where a tourniquet can’t be applied: the groin, the armpit, the base of the neck, or the buttocks and pelvis. These areas sit at the junction between a limb and the torso, making a standard tourniquet ineffective.
For these wounds, the recommended approach is to pack the injury with gauze or cloth and apply direct pressure with both hands. Specialized junctional tourniquets exist for these locations, but they are designed for trained military medics and paramedics, not civilian bystanders. What you can do is pack and press, holding firm pressure until help arrives.
What’s Inside a Bleeding Control Kit
You may have seen red wall-mounted cases in schools, airports, or office buildings labeled with the Stop the Bleed logo. A standard kit typically contains:
- One combat application tourniquet (C-A-T)
- One 6-inch emergency trauma dressing
- Two packs of compressed wound-packing gauze
- Trauma shears for cutting clothing
- Two pairs of nitrile gloves
- A survival blanket
- A permanent marker
- An instruction card
Everything comes in a red nylon pouch with a zipper for quick access. You don’t need a kit to help someone, though. The techniques work with bare hands and whatever cloth is nearby. The kit just makes it easier and faster.
Legal Protections for Bystanders
Every U.S. state and the District of Columbia has a Good Samaritan law that provides civil liability protection to people who render emergency aid in good faith. No state explicitly excludes bleeding control techniques from these protections. Oklahoma specifically includes bleeding control in its statute.
Six states (Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, and Missouri) limit Good Samaritan protection to people who have completed a recognized first aid or resuscitation course. In the remaining 44 states and D.C., both trained and untrained bystanders are generally protected. If you’ve taken a Stop the Bleed course, you have documented training, which strengthens your legal standing in any state.
How to Get Trained
Stop the Bleed courses are free and typically take about an hour. They combine a short lecture with hands-on practice using tourniquets and wound-packing simulators. Classes are offered through hospitals, fire departments, schools, community organizations, and workplaces across the country. You can find a course near you through the program’s website at stopthebleed.org. As of mid-2025, more than 5 million people have completed the training.