ACS Committee on Trauma Guidance for STOP THE BLEED Course Instructors

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The American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS COT) fully supports the directives urging social distancing to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and strongly encourages all instructors to cancel STOP THE BLEED® Courses planned in the near future.

The ACS COT expects adherence to all governmental and organizational restrictions on gatherings, hosting of meetings on their premises, or business travel for their employees. If you do hold a STOP THE BLEED® Course, course size should not exceed 5-10 participants, and make sure that you are appropriately sanitizing your equipment and have the appropriate personnel cleaning supplies for your staff, faculty, and Course participants. Advise potential participants that they will not be admitted to a Course should they demonstrate signs of cold- or flu-like illnesses.

Everyone must do their part to reduce risk and promote the health and safety of the global community. Currently, that requires social distancing which outweighs the very real need to provide training on this crucial life-saving skill. The ACS COT is working on alternate options for sharing key principles of the Stop the Bleed message; when these are available, they will be posted on stopthebleed.org.

For further assistance with individual concerns, please contact stopthebleed@facs.org.

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