Medical

On October 1, 2017, Air Force Staff Sergeant Alyson Venegas, Senior Airman Logan Bennett, and Senior Airman Linda Wilson were enjoying a country music concert in Las Vegas, when a madman began shooting into the concert crowd from the window of a hotel. Trapped in the kill zone with insufficient medical supplies, those courageous airmen improvised bandages and tourniquets from t-shirts and other readily available clothing items.

Our students have been practicing how to improvise for years.

Improvising a tourniquet from a pair of PJs. A single wooden spoon used as a windlass might snap in half, but three can distribute the forces between them.

“You could have the finest, most expensive first aid kit in the world,” says our lead instructor, George H, “but if it’s not within arms’ reach when you need it, it might as well be on Mars.” Even if you do have access to medical gear, the most advanced bandages, tourniquets, nasal airways, and chest seals are useless without realistic, quality training in how and when to use them.

Leadership under fire

One resource you may have in abundance after an accident or killing spree is bystander hands. They will likely be willing to help, but hesitant due to lack of confidence or fear of the unknown. Be their guide and teacher. Give them a MISSION they can look back on in the years that follow. When they see themselves in the mirror, they will be able to say, “I did what I could do.”

Our training will teach you how to be a leader, even if you are not a medic, nurse or doctor. You will be saving lives at the scene, and psyches afterwards.

If you are already a medical professional, we can teach you how to ply your trade in kinetic environments. “Is the scene safe?” is supposed to be the first question a medic asks before approaching the wounded. How did that work out for those airmen in Las Vegas?

Picture this: you’re dispatched to a gang-related shooting. As you treat the patient, a member of the opposing gang sticks a pistol in your face and says, “Let him die. I shot him for a reason . . ..”

Our lead instructor was a Nationally Registered Emergency Medical Technician (NREMT), and a registered Arizona Emergency Medical Care Technician (EMCT). He is a National Association of EMTs certified Tactical Emergency Casualty Care (TECC) and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) instructor. A former 7-level military flight medic and law enforcement tactical medic, George taught American Heart Association (AHA) BLS / CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) and First Aid for the Military Training Network of the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, the Red Cross, and the US government. He was also a military Self-Aid and Buddy Care instructor.

Heloderma Medical, a division of Heloderm LLC, is an ASHI (American Safety and Health Institute) authorized training center. ASHI is a CPR and First Aid teaching and accrediting organization, using the same 2020 guidelines as AHA and Red Cross. ASHI programs we can certify you in include:

  • Advanced Bleeding Control
  • Advanced First Aid
  • Basic First Aid
  • Basic Life Support (BLS, CPR for Healthcare Providers & First Responders)
  • Bloodborne Pathogens
  • CPR / Automated External Defibrillator (AED)
  • Child and Babysitting Safety
  • Emergency Medical Response
  • Emergency Oxygen Administration
  • Pediatric First Aid, CPR and AED
  • Wilderness First Aid

We teach ASHI courses to meet and exceed the ASHI standards for content and presentation, but we also tailor each class to the individual needs of the students.

For example, a parent who has horses and a swimming pool requested first aid training for herself, her kids, and their friends. We taught them a Pediatric and Adult First Aid, CPR, and AED course, with an emphasis on musculoskeletal injuries. We added a few hours on Pool Safety and Rescue, taught by certified lifeguards.

We find that in adult education, scenario based, hands-on practice produces better outcomes than endless lectures. Let us know what you are looking for and we will customize a course just for you.

American College of Surgeons Stop the Bleed

As part of our community outreach to reduce mortality from senseless killing sprees, Heloderma Medical can add a 2-hour block of instruction on bleeding control (ACS BCon 2.0) to any other medical class you take, without any additional charge. You will receive an additional certificate from the American College of Surgeons certifying that you have been trained to apply tourniquets and pack wounds.