Suffolk County Executive Bellone, Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center announce partnership to provide stop the bleed training for county employees

SCPD to provide County Employees with active shooter training to enhance public safety

Photos from Event Available Here

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and representatives from Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center today announced a partnership to provide Stop the Bleed training to County Employees in order to improve emergency medical response times by turning bystanders into lifesavers when crisis strikes.  Additionally, the Suffolk County Police Department announced the Department’s Homeland Security Bureau has begun providing active shooter training for all County employees. 

“Suffolk County has worked diligently with the SCPD, employers and especially our schools to implement new and enhanced safety measures to protect residents in the event of an active shooter situation or other emergency,” said Suffolk County Executive Bellone.“The two new trainings announced today, Stop the Bleed and Active Shooter, will give our employees the tools they need to save lives in the event a crisis ever strikes.”  

“The active shooter training seminars provide Suffolk County residents and employees with the tools and knowledge to stay safe in an emergency situation—tools that I sincerely hope they will never need to utilize,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said. “Maintaining the safety of our residents is the core mission of the Suffolk County Police Department, and I believe providing people with the skills developed in this course is beneficial should an active shooter situation arise.”

“The first few minutes are crucial when assisting a person with significant blood loss,” said Good Samaritan Medical Director of Trauma, Abenarmar Arrillaga, MD.  “That’s why Stop the Bleed is such an important program. We’re grateful to County Executive Bellone for allowing us to share this valuable, life-saving information with his staff.” 

The Stop the Bleed program will teach employees critical skills such as wound packing and tourniquet practice in the event of a serious injury. The first of these classes was held today, April 3 at the H. Lee Dennison Building. Subsequent classes will be held monthly at various County locations on a rotating basis until March 2020. Each class in anticipated to accommodate 30-45 participants. Employees who complete the training will receive a certificate from Good Samaritan Hospital.

The Active Shooting training seminars, hosted by the Suffolk County Police Department, walk employees through real world examples and various safety techniques to utilize during an active shooter incident. The first of this series of trainings took place on March 27 and the second training took place today, April 3. Currently there are 4 subsequent trainings scheduled for County employees at the H. Lee Dennison building, and the Police Department is in the process of rolling out this initiative county-wide. 

Since 2017, the SCPD has run over 233 active shooter trainings. The active shooter training provided by the Suffolk County Police Department is also available, free of charge, to other organizations interested. Semin