Here’s why First Aid training matters.

In any emergency, the first few minutes are the most critical. Often, when you think of a first aid emergency – it’s someone who’s stopped breathing, but first aid is so much more than CPR and defibrillation. In fact, Catastrophic Bleeding is higher up on the First Aid Primary Survey than checking for breathing.

At Life Saving Training, we believe that everyone should have the skills to step in when it matters most. Whether it’s a workplace accident, a road traffic collision, or a DIY mishap at home, knowing how to “stop the bleed” is vital.

The Reality of Catastrophic Bleeding: Why Seconds Matter

The average adult has about 5 to 6 litres of blood. If a major artery is severed, you can lose a life-threatening amount of blood in as little as 2 to 6 minutes.

In the UK, the target ambulance response time for a Category 1 emergency (life-threatening) is 7 minutes. The harsh reality is that if someone has catastrophic bleeding, they may not have 7 minutes. This is why bystanders knowing what to do in those first minutes, matters.   

Catastrophic Bleeding finally received the emphasis it deserves in the October 2025 Resuscitation Council UK First Aid Guidelines. We’ve been actively teaching it since 2015. It’s not a skill reserved for medical professionals or the battlefield, no matter what you might have heard before. Regular people on first aid courses, being trained to act with skill and confidence, literally save lives. 

Three Ways You Can Stop a Catastrophic Bleed

1. Direct Pressure: This is the first line of treatment. Using your hands (ideally with gloves) to apply firm, consistent pressure directly onto the wound can be very effective.

2. Wound Packing: For deep, junctional or gaping wounds where pressure from the outside isn’t enough. Pack the wound with gauze (or any fabric in an absolute emergency) to help stop the flow from the source. Gauze impregnated with haemostatic agents should be used if available. 

3. Tourniquets: Commercial tourniquets (like the CAT) are designed to be fast and effective. They’re designed to completely stop blood flow to a limb when pressure and packing aren’t enough. If a commercially bought tourniquet isn’t available, you can make a tourniquet. You need some fabric and a windlass (such as a spanner, tent peg, or spoon etc). 

Our Mission: Save More Lives

It can sound like just a strapline and not a reality, but at Life Saving Training, our goal isn’t just to help you tick a box for health and safety regulations. We want to ensure that if the worst happens, you have real world skills and confidence to make a difference. Because when you’re empowered with the right skills, through carefully designed and delivered training, you don’t just have to wait for the ambulance – you can save a life.

How can First Aid training save lives?

We’ve had countless people contact us after they’ve trained with Life Saving Training, to say they’ve used what we taught them to help others. There are a few examples that really stand out, such as the primary school teacher who saved her husband’s life, when he severed his femoral artery with a circular saw. She made a makeshift tourniquet out of what was to hand, and she is the reason why her husband is still alive.

Are you or your team ready to act?

Don’t wait for an emergency to find out. Build the muscle memory, build the confidence, through our hands-on empowering training. Contact us today, to go from being a passive bystander calling 999, to a bystander who can be the difference between life and death.