(Courtesy of HRH) Run-Hide-Fight was the message given by Kristin Hyman, chief of EMS at Hudson Regional Hospital to members of the Passaic-Clifton kehila last Sunday. Eighty people participated in a shiur entitled, “Survival Training,” which included “Surviving an Active-Shooter Event,” “Stop the Bleed” and “Hands-Only CPR.” The shiur was in response to the anti-Semitic attack in Pittsburgh and the shooting in California and was organized by George Matyjewicz, director of community outreach at Hudson Regional Hospital and the communications link for the Passaic-Clifton community.

Together with Brigdon Campbell, tour chief, and Ryan Vigilante, field training officer, Hyman presented the attendees with the necessary steps that should occur—now, during and after a shooting. The planning included simple goals: knowledge of bleeding control, survival strategies and resuscitation. Together, these equal a better chance at survival.

It was also emphasized that Run-Hide-Fight is not sequential, it is a list of your options, ordered from best possible course to last resort. Running and getting away from the shooter to a safe place outside is your safest solution. If that is not possible, hide, perhaps in your office with furniture piled against the door. Remember the shooter is interested in shooting and will not stop to try to force open a door.

The last choice is to fight. In those cases where people fought, they waited until the shooter reloaded and then attacked. Look for an improvised weapon: fire extinguisher, chairs, desks, coffee pots. Look for whatever could give you an advantage.

Upon survival, it is now time to help others, or treat your own injuries until help arrives—you are the first first responder.

The hands-on training started with “Bleeding Control (B-Con) Basic” a program copyrighted by the American College of Surgeons, designed to help you save a life. When helping those in need after blood loss, Ms. Hyman and the other instructors offered the following mnemonic device:

A: Alert—call 9-1-1.

B: Bleeding—find the bleeding injury.

C: Compress—apply pressure to stop the bleeding by covering or filling the wound and applying pressure.

While the concept sounds easy, attendees soon learned how to identify “life-threatening” bleeding and how to treat those wounds to save a life.

Then, attendees put their skills to the test and did hands-on training with compression and practiced how to use a tourniquet. People quickly learned where to put a tourniquet and it was emphasized that it will hurt the patient, but it is saving a life, and more importantly: Do not loosen as it will cause additional blood loss. Note: All shuls and public gathering places should have available an emergency kit that contains a tourniquet and a bleeding control kit. If not, use anything available to pack the wound, as infections can be corrected, but the loss of life cannot!

Airway control was then demonstrated, including opening the airway with a head-tilt/chin-lift or modified jaw thrust and placing the victim in the recovery position. The HRH team then demonstrated hands-only CPR which is not as easy as one may think. It is important to apply pressure with both hands on the chest of the victim, right below the breasts. And it should be on the skin, which means a shirt or blouse may be ripped open to apply CPR—tznius, or modesty, is overridden to save a life!

The question of when to use mouth-to-mouth resuscitation was discussed and it was shown how and what happens if done incorrectly. If mouth-to-mouth is used, it must be steady breathing as one normally does. Hyman showed what happens to the heart if you blow too hard on the patient—the chest blew open. A doctor in the audience added to this discussion by explaining how CPR works, what happens inside the body.

Throughout the shiur, there were questions as the attendees got to their feet to observe more clearly and to clarify some misconceptions.

Then, as before, attendees were brought to stations where they were able to apply what they learned in the shiur. The class was separated into smaller groups so that the three EMS staff from HRH could offer more one-on-one, hands-on application.

The message is that Hudson Regional Hospital is ready to address your medical needs and cater to your religious requirements.

For a survival training program in your community or a physician or group tour of the new Hudson Regional Hospital, please contact George Matyjewicz at [email protected] or 201-392-3436.

Patients can inquire about services or schedule appointments by contacting the hospital directly, either via telephone, at 201-392-3100, or email, at [email protected]. Patients facing medical emergencies should proceed directly to the emergency room. The emergency room contact number is 201-392-3210.