Q&A: Bringing Bleeding-Control Training and Supplies Into School Emergency Planning

In a life-threatening bleeding emergency, the time between an injury and the arrival of professional medical care can be critical, particularly during a lockdown or other incident that may delay first responders from reaching an injured person.

The First Minute Project, a Colorado-based nonprofit, is working with schools to expand access to bleeding-control supplies and training. Its approach emphasizes placing supplies where they will remain accessible during a lockdown and training school staff to provide immediate bleeding control until emergency medical services can reach the patient.

School Security Leadership recently connected with the First Minute Project about practical considerations for building and maintaining a school bleeding-control program, including kit placement and contents, staff and student training, coordination with first responders, funding, lessons learned from implementing the program at Conifer High School, and how bleeding-control planning can fit into a school’s larger emergency response program.

Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Q&A With the First Minute Project

What do schools tend to misunderstand about bleeding-control preparedness?

One of the biggest misconceptions is that once 911 is called, the medical response is essentially taken care of. Calling 911 is absolutely critical, but it does not mean an injured person will immediately have medical care.

In a serious incident, particularly a lockdown or other event involving a threat to life, there can be a significant period of time before EMS can safely enter an area and reach an injured person. That is the gap we are trying to address.

Many schools also assume because they have a few bleeding-control kits in the school and a few staff members trained, they have a “bleeding-control program” in place. However, when a school locks down during an emergency, these kits and trained staff may be inaccessible to everyone locked down in classrooms.

It is vital to have as many trained staff as possible, along with bleeding-control kits in every room where staff and students could potentially be locked down.

EMS remains the primary medical response, but schools should have the capability to provide immediate bleeding control while professional responders are making their way to the patient.

How should schools determine where bleeding-control supplies should be located and what each kit should contain?

Our philosophy is that a bleeding-control kit is only useful if people can get to it quickly.

Classrooms are an important part of that equation because that is where students and staff spend much of their day. But classrooms should not be the only locations considered. Staff offices and other rooms can also be places where students and staff find themselves locked down.

In Jefferson County Public Schools, plastic “lockdown buckets” are placed in classrooms and other areas throughout schools. These buckets contain supplies students and staff may need during a lockdown, such as snacks, water, and blankets.

We recommend using these existing lockdown buckets to also house bleeding-control supplies. Because the buckets are mobile, they can be moved to the safest part of the classroom during a lockdown, such as an area away from windows and out of sight from a potential threat. This approach allows bleeding-control supplies to remain accessible without requiring schools to create an entirely separate storage system.

Considering the realities of school budgets, we recommend focusing resources on the equipment that is most directly useful for controlling life-threatening bleeding: tourniquets and gauze for wound packing. We also recommend that schools consider stocking trauma shears so clothing can be quickly cut away to expose an injury, although they are not essential to the actual process of controlling bleeding.

We would rather see a school equipped with the essential lifesaving supplies it can afford and staff trained to use them than see a school unable to implement a program because a comprehensive commercial kit is too expensive.

How can schools reinforce bleeding-control skills after the initial training?

Training should not be a “check-the-box” activity that happens once and is then forgotten.

We recommend, at minimum, that bleeding-control refresher training be conducted every two years. We also recommend that as new teachers and staff come onboard midway through the school year, or for those who missed the initial training, the school nurse provide training for small groups or even a single person when required.

Beyond formal training, there are short refresher videos available online for free that review the application process and could be incorporated into school in-service training days.

What should schools consider when deciding whether and how to train students?

We believe students can be an important part of a school’s emergency preparedness, but student training should be voluntary, age-appropriate, and handled thoughtfully.

For schools considering student training, we recommend looking at students’ age and maturity, the school environment, communication with parents, and any existing policies that may affect the school’s decision to offer training.

We would also emphasize that students are not being trained to replace teachers, school nurses, EMS, or other professionals. They are being given a basic lifesaving skill that could potentially help another person in an emergency.

There is also an educational value to teaching students these skills. They can take that knowledge with them outside of school to sporting events, workplaces, homes, and their communities. Our goal is to empower those who take the training to respond not only inside their schools, but also throughout their communities.

What role should local EMS, fire departments, law enforcement, and other first responders play?

A school should not develop its emergency medical response plan in isolation.

We partner with a statewide network of certified EMS professionals to provide educational resources and training to the communities they serve. We also help schools track their training schedules, determine when refresher training is needed, and procure supplies to initially stock classrooms and replace lost, used, or missing supplies in the future.

Schools seeking training on their own may also be able to work with a local EMS organization. However, they would still need a plan for purchasing supplies and managing the program over time so that the skills don't fade out of the school.

How should bleeding-control planning fit into a school’s larger emergency operations, lockdown, and medical response plans?

A school may have multiple layers of security, including ballistic window film, metal detection systems at entry points, AI-enhanced camera systems, and other security measures, but if those layers fail, there must still be a way to provide immediate lifesaving care to an injured person. Security measures are designed to prevent or respond to a threat; our program addresses what happens when someone is injured despite those efforts.

Our program is specifically designed for lockdown situations, when students and staff may be unable to reach emergency medical services or receive immediate outside assistance.

During a lockdown, EMS personnel generally cannot enter a building until the threat has been neutralized and law enforcement has determined that the scene is safe to enter. Even after the scene is secured, law enforcement must systematically clear the building and individual rooms. This can take significant time, particularly in a large school.

As a result, an injured person may be trapped inside a classroom or other secured space for an extended period before professional medical assistance can reach them.

That is why we believe it is critical to have trained staff and bleeding-control supplies available throughout the school. When every classroom is equipped with tourniquets and gauze, and staff are trained to use them, lifesaving care can begin immediately, by the person standing next to the victim, while law enforcement works to neutralize the threat and EMS works to gain access.

Our program is intended to address the critical minutes between the moment an injury occurs and the moment professional medical care can reach the victim.

How does the First Minute Project fund its program, and what would it take to expand it?

The First Minute Project was intentionally designed around removing cost as a barrier for schools.

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and our objective is to provide training and equipment to schools without charging the school or district for participation. We raise money through individual donations, corporate and community support, grants, and other charitable contributions, and then use those resources to purchase equipment and provide training.

We have also worked to establish discounted pricing for equipment so donor dollars can go as far as possible.

At Conifer High School, for example, our community was able to raise approximately $4,000 in equipment funding and equip the school while training more than 60 staff members.

The long-term challenge is scale.

If the goal is to reach schools across Colorado and eventually other states, we will need a larger network of individual donors, businesses, foundations, community organizations, and institutional partners. We also need a sustainable system for replacing supplies, training new employees as school personnel change, and maintaining equipment over time.

We are currently working to advance a proposed “First Minute Act” in Colorado. Under the proposal, a one-time fee of approximately $3.50 to $7 per student at enrollment would fund two tourniquets, four rolls of gauze, and trauma shears for schools throughout Colorado. Because these supplies do not expire, the proposed fee would be assessed only once for each school.

We hope to work with lawmakers to introduce the proposal during the 2027 Colorado legislative session and eventually pursue similar efforts in other states.

What have you learned from implementing the program at Conifer High School?

Conifer High School has been instrumental to the development of the First Minute Project because it allowed us to take the concept from paper and implement it in a real school environment.

The principal made the one-hour training mandatory for all staff members, which is the approach we advocate for. However, we recognize that other schools and districts may be hesitant to require the training for all employees. This remains one of our biggest challenges.

We understand that some teachers and staff members may initially be uncomfortable with bleeding-control training. However, we emphasize that these skills are not only tools for saving someone else’s life; they can also be used to save their own.

For this reason, we remain committed to advocating for training for all school staff. At the same time, we are willing to work with individual schools and districts to increase participation and ensure that as many staff members as possible are trained and equipped.

Our current approach is to provide one tourniquet and two rolls of gauze to every staff member who completes the training, allowing them to keep the supplies readily accessible in their classroom or workspace. This approach helps us expand the program even in schools that may not yet be ready to make training mandatory for every employee.

Where should a school safety leader start when assessing bleeding-control readiness?

We recommend starting with five basic questions:

1. Where are our bleeding-control kits? Can staff identify the nearest kit from their classroom, gym, cafeteria, athletic field, or other major areas of the school?
2. Can people actually access them during a lockdown? A kit doesn't help if it is locked away, inaccessible during a lockdown, or located too far from the people who may need it.
3. Does our staff know how to use the equipment? It's not enough to have tourniquets and gauze without sufficient trained personnel who know how to use them. Staff should receive hands-on training in direct pressure, wound packing, and tourniquet application.
4. Is bleeding control incorporated into our emergency operations plan? Based on our experience, bleeding control is typically addressed as part of plans for isolated emergencies, such as injuries resulting from sporting accidents, shop-tool mishaps, or other routine incidents. It is less often incorporated into a school's larger emergency response plan, particularly for situations where students and staff may be unable to access professional medical assistance.
5. Do we maintain the program? Schools should have a process for inspecting kits, replacing used or expired supplies, training new employees, and periodically refreshing existing staff.

If a school can answer those five questions, it has a good starting point for evaluating its preparedness.