"Stop The Bleed" classes aim to teach average people how to respond to an emergency
CHICAGO (CBS) -- You can't predict where the next emergency will happen, but you can try and prepare yourself. That's focus of the organization "Stop The Bleed."
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza was there as a packed class learned how to survive and help others in case of emergency.
A room full of people in the West Loop learned how to take safety into their own hands so they're ready for the next emergency.
"I think all of us have a role as being the first responder for a lot of trauma; whether it's a car accident, whether it's in our home, whether it's with our loved ones or our family," said Dr. Howard Kotler, a head and neck surgeon with Advocate Aurora Health.
Kottler just became one of the more than 2 million Americans to finish the Stop The Bleed course.
He's a doctor himself, but came to the class anyway.
"You can always learn more," he said. "School shootings; we're having a lot of societt violence that we had not really seen before in the past, and we need to have ways of mitigating that."
The class is just as the name the describes. Students are taught how to stop a victim's bleeding in case of an emergency; not learning to become experts, but how to apply pressure, pack a wound, and possibly apply a tourniquet while they wait for the professionals.
"Doing something is better than doing nothing at all," said Cook County Sheriff's Police Officer Anthony Schickel.
In Stop The Bleed classes, Schickel teaches average people how to think ahead.
"We want people to be able to feel safe. We want people to, if they come across an accident, whatever accident, even a car crash, they can have the comfort to know that they can react," said Patrick Flannery, assistant executive director of community engagement for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.
The class was free of charge. Even we learned something. Schickel walked us through how to self-apply a tourniquet. You can watch how in the video above.
It was only the second time the sheriff's department taught the course in the community. They said they plan to host other sessions with interested community organizations, free of charge.
