PACEP Medical Student Committee Update
Stopping the Bleed and 
Forming Connections
Bryce Millington, MS4, Drexel University College of Medicine
Uncontrolled bleeding remains the leading 
preventable cause of death after injury. Someone 
can lose their entire blood volume in under five 
minutes! Due to this fact, the American College of 
Surgeons launched the Stop the Bleed campaign 
with the simple and vital goal of turning 
bystanders into immediate responders. This past 
spring, that mission came to Drexel University 
College of Medicine's West Reading campus, 
thanks to a collaboration between the Reading 
Hospital Tower Health Emergency Medicine 
Residency and Drexel’s Emergency Medicine 
Interest Group (EMIG).
The event began with a presentation about the 
importance and role that Stop the Bleed training 
has in saving lives before EMS arrives on scene. 
Afterwards, attendees of the event participated in 
stations where we learned how to pack wounds 
and use tourniquets on mannequins. The session 
was led by residents and attendings from Reading 
Hospital who provided medical students in 
attendance with real world context behind the 
skills we were practicing. In the end, every student 
left feeling more comfortable approaching a 
bleeding patient, which may make the difference 
in saving someone’s life out in the community.
Aside from receiving valuable training, what 
was great about the event was the interaction 
that occurred between attendings, residents, 
and medical students. Not only were we being 
taught life-saving skills, but we were given the 
opportunity to engage with physicians who were 
once in our shoes. For those who are early in 
their medical school journey, an event like this 
serves as a low-stakes, but high-yield hands-on 
introduction to life-saving treatment and the 
world of emergency medicine. For those who 
may already be interested in pursuing emergency 
medicine, this event served as an opportunity to 
ask more specific questions about the specialty, 
residency, and Reading Hospital. In addition, 
this served as an opportunity for the residents to 
teach highly motivated students and serve as a 
resource for those still trying to determine what 
kind of physician they want to become.
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