For Immediate Release

Contact:

Bobby Maldonado

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

248-858-6662

Bobby.Maldonado@stjoeshealth.org

Contact:

Mary Ellen Rowe

Clarkston Community Schools

248-623-5460 merowe@clarkston.k12.mi.us

September 13, 2018

PONTIAC and CLARKSTON, Mich. (Sept. 13, 2018) – Experts from the St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Trauma Center, in coordination with Clarkston Community Schools, will make Stop the Bleed^® training available to every district employee beginning September 17. Ten training sessions are scheduled throughout the district this fall, with the goal of training nearly 700 employees from seven elementary schools (K-5), one middle school (6-7), one junior high school (8-9), Clarkston High School (10-12), and Renaissance High School, the district's alternative high school.

"I applaud the Clarkston school district for taking the necessary steps to help ensure the safety of their staff and students," said Carol Spinweber, Trauma Program Manager at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland. "Following a mass casualty incident, many lives are lost due to excessive blood loss. If we train, equip, and empower bystanders to intervene before EMS arrives to the scene, we can stop blood loss and increase the likelihood of survival for the injured person or persons."

The St. Joe's program, which is part of a national initiative led by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, will provide step-by-step, hands-on training on how to recognize and intervene to stop life-threatening bleeding following a traumatic event, before medical help arrives.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, someone who is bleeding severely can die from blood loss within five minutes, before first responders arrive to the scene.

"Our district's School Safety Task Force is looking at school safety from a 360-degree standpoint, and is actively identifying opportunities to enhance our protocols and procedures,” said Clarkston Community Schools Assistant

Superintendent of Administrative Services John Lucido. “When we heard about Stop the Bleed^®, we knew it was something we wanted to bring to Clarkston through St. Joseph Mercy Oakland. While it's unsettling to think about the circumstances that would necessitate this training, it's absolutely imperative that we equip our teachers with this life-saving education.”

Launched in October 2015, Stop the Bleed^® is a national awareness campaign and call to action. It is intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives.

If your business, school or religious organization would like to learn more about this free on-site training, please call St. Joseph Mercy Oakland at 248-858-6690.

About Clarkston Community Schools

Clarkston is a highly regarded school district with an enrollment of more than 7,500 students. We have seven elementary schools (K-5), one middle school serving grades 6-7, one junior high for grades 8-9, and Clarkston High School, which serves students in grades 10-12. We also have an Early Childhood Center serving children ages 3-5, and an alternative high school/community education facility. Each Clarkston Community Schools' student is fully engaged in a globally focused education, from preschool through graduation, that fosters in students a sense of self, perspective, responsibility/ownership, and contribution. The mission of Clarkston Community Schools is to cultivate thinkers, learners and positive contributors to a global society. Read more Clarkston Community Schools News at www.clarkston.k12.mi.us/news

About St. Joseph Mercy Oakland

St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is a 443-bed community teaching hospital and a long-time leader in health care in Oakland County. Founded in 1927 by the Sisters of Mercy, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland has won numerous local and national awards for patient safety, quality and performance, and consistently ranks in the top 10 percent of hospitals nationwide. A member of the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland is a technologically leading hospital that combines advanced medicine and personal care to assist patients on their path to wellness. With dedicated physicians, nurses and hospital staff committed to providing quality care throughout the patient stay, St. Joseph Mercy Oakland has truly personalized the patient care experience.

For more information about health services offered at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland, please visit stjoesoakland.org.

About Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

Saint Joseph Mercy Health System (SJMHS) is a health care organization serving seven counties in southeast Michigan including Livingston, Washtenaw,

Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Jackson, and Lenawee. It includes 537-bed St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor, 443-bed St. Joseph Mercy Oakland in Pontiac, 304-bed

St. Mary Mercy Livonia, 136-bed St. Joseph Mercy Livingston in Howell, and 133-bed St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. Combined, the five hospitals are licensed for 1,553 beds, have five outpatient health centers, six urgent care facilities, more than 25 specialty centers; employ more than 15,300 individuals and have a medical staff of nearly 2,700 physicians. SJMHS has annual operating revenues of about $2 billion and returns about $120 million to its communities annually through charity care and community benefit programs.

SJMHS is a member of Trinity Health, a leading Catholic health care system based in Livonia, Mich. Trinity Health operates in 22 states, employs about 131,000 colleagues, has annual operating revenues of $17.6 billion and assets of about $24.6 billion. Additionally, the organization returns almost $1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.

For more information on health services offered at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, please visit www.stjoeshealth.org.

###