Unfortunate as it is, school shootings have become something of a norm in this country. Ben Vickery, retired military, is taking steps in the Gorham School District to empower teachers and administrators and give them the necessary skills to save a life.
It all started with a simple idea: inform people that really need it (i.e. educators and staff at schools) how to treat the immediate aftermath of a gunshot wound.
“My daughter is going to Gorham Schools and as a military guy, school shootings really bothered me,” said Vickery.
Therefore, in collaboration with Chris Record, assistant Superintendent of Gorham Schools, Vickery created classes to give “the confidence and the understanding that a school shooting does not mean complete destruction.”
“The class starts with an extremely important tone,” says Vickery. “Teachers, more than anybody in our society, love our children. They would be more likely to take action to save one of these children because they love kids. They have a place where they can put aside the inhibitions of something scary; put away the blood and guns, and save one of these kids.”
The class first teaches what and how to use a tourniquet. This is a large elastic that is simply wrapped around a limb without damaging
the limb. The next piece is an elastic combat bandage, which is a large ace bandage with a piece of gauze on the end of it. The final piece is how to pack a wound with gauze.
These skills are taught using sensory deprivation techniques, such as blindfolds and gloves, to accurately represent the decrease of fine motor skills in stressful situations.
“Part of teaching this is letting them understand that in these situations your fine motor skills deteriorate. The timeframe in which they will be operating is called the gravest extreme where actions will determine life or death in minutes or seconds,” said Vickery.
“In this, you can’t do things with your fingers like thread a needle but you can tourniquet a limb: stretch, wrap, twist.”
Vickery bases his training on two simple rules: the Golden Hour and the Platinum Ten. If a person is seriously injured and comes in contact with a proper level one trauma facility within one hour, the Golden Hour, the chance of survival increases. The Platinum Ten is the ten minutes in which bleeding must be stopped for it to not turn fatal.
“A student who might have been a fatal victim could rise up and live after all. The students and their well-being are the primary motivation behind everything they do,” said Vickery.
He hopes that from taking this class, educators and staff can learn the impact they can have at school or in their own lives. Record sets up the classes, however, Vickery welcomes anyone who would like a lesson to reach out. He can be reached at rescue@maine.rr.com and at 837-7573.