ARABI, LA — Inside his firearms store and gun range, Brannon LeBouef has all kinds of equipment and tools that can protect or save lives.
Since the mass shooting in Las Vegas, LeBouef is pushing one specific item above the others, the tourniquet.
“They’re super simple,” LeBouef said as he demonstrated how to twist and apply a tourniquet on his own arm. “Just get it as tight as we can, then one more tighter.”
Tourniquets are used to pinch off the blood supply to arteries that have been injured due to some sort of trauma. After the shooting in Las Vegas, news media reports detailed the cases when people used a belt or piece of cloth to function as a tourniquet.
LeBouef says a better option is tourniquet kits that can cost $50 or less. Many of the kits are small enough to fit inside the back pocket of blue jeans or inside of a purse.
But LeBouef says the gear is just part of the preparation.
“Everyone should have the knowledge,” he said. Lebouef offers the training courses at his business.
“The kind of class that you’re looking for is not like a first aid, CPR class, but a trauma class, something that teaches stop the bleeding. That’s going to generally involve tourniquets, pressure dressing, and wound packing,” he said.
He’s not the only one offering the classes. The LSU Health Science Center, University Medical Center, and Tulane University School of Medicine are partners in a nationwide program called Stop The Bleed.
Every other Monday, from 11:00 to 12 noon, the groups’ doctors and nurses teach a class on how to help in a bleeding emergency until help can arrive. The classes are at the UMC conference center in Room D.