On October 1, 2017, Lacey Newman’s life changed forever. While attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada, a gunman opened fire. While many, including Lacey, began to run, a lot of attendees thought the gunfire was fireworks, and they falsely believed there was no cause for alarm. After ducking for cover a few times, Lacey realized she had been shot in the leg and was bleeding profusely. Her friend, with no prior medical training, sprung into action. She took Lacey to a safe space and called out for help; a passerby stopped and provided a belt. They applied a makeshift tourniquet to Lacey’s leg, while her friend applied pressure to the wound, primarily using her entire body weight to stop the bleeding. Thankfully, these efforts saved Lacey’s life, and she was able to make a full recovery.
Our Executive Director, Andrew Roszak, interviewed Lacey about her swift response to the mass shooting, and what she’s doing currently to educate others about life-saving stop the bleed training:
Meet Lacey Newman
Lacey serves as a National Ambassador for Stop The Bleed. According to Stop The Bleed’s website, “Anyone can be trained and be ready to save someone’s life – a friend, a family member, a colleague or the person next to you – whether you know them or not. Tragedy can strike at any time – whether it's a mass shooting, a car accident, a playground mishap, a natural disaster or one of the many other ways that someone winds up traumatically bleeding, properly trained and equipped bystanders can save someone’s life.” Lacey also serves as an Ambassador for citizenAid North America. This company empowers citizens by providing the skills to take action, become first responders, and help save lives during life-threatening, traumatic incidents.
The mass shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival was a shock to Lacey. She says, "I never thought it would happen to me… until it did. It’s no longer a question of if, it’s a matter of when and the very best thing we can do is be prepared."
Lacey’s Takeaways To Prepare For a Traumatic Incident:
Know where the exits are
Ask yourself, “Where can I hide if I need to hide?”
Find a safe place for your child
Stop the bleed by any means necessary
Get medical attention as soon as possible
Talking to children about surviving a mass shooting:
Lacey chose to tell her 7-year old son the truth about what happened at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival
Let children ask questions, and answer them as honestly as possible
Reach out to your child’s teachers and school for resources and guidance
Preparedness Training:
Take and retake life-saving training
Continue to practice stop the bleed techniques regularly
Imagine yourself in a traumatic scenario and ask yourself what you would do in that situation
Plan for a traumatic incident. Don’t think it will never happen to you.
Lacey decided to become an advocate and to help others prepare for traumatic incidents. She says, "I've found I can take control of the way I heal, and I can choose what type of survivor I want to be. I want to take a proactive approach to save lives, encouraging others to be prepared to help others in a time of need."
Free Online Training Course
As part of our new Protecting Children Series, we are now happy to offer our newest FREE training course: Protecting Children: Learning From Las Vegas Mass Shooting Survivor Lacey Newman.
This course will allow participants to:
Describe at least two steps you can take to be better prepared
Identify at least two considerations when discussing these events to children
Describe two techniques to help stay calm during an emergency
Enroll in Protecting Children: Learning From Las Vegas Mass Shooting Survivor Lacey Newman for FREE today: Click Here.
The Importance of Stop The Bleed Training
Stop the Bleed training empowers bystanders to become first responders and to take action during a traumatic event. Stop the Bleed training teaches participants to recognize life-threatening bleeding, provide immediate help, and save lives. Lacey says, "Experts report it can take as little as 3-5 minutes to die from blood loss, emergency response time is at best 7-10 minutes away, during these precious moments trained bystanders can be the difference between life and death."
According to Stop the Bleed’s website, “Uncontrolled bleeding is a major cause of preventable deaths. Approximately 40% of trauma-related deaths worldwide are due to bleeding or its consequences.”
Why We Need Stop The Bleed Training
Mass shootings
Motor vehicle crashes
Home injuries
Bombings
Shark bites
What You Need For a Stop The Bleed Kit
Tourniquets
Rubber gloves
Scissors
Bandages
Gauze
Thank you so much to Lacey Newman for sharing your story and everything you do to educate and train citizens. Visit Lacey’s website for more information about her efforts and current training initiatives: https://www.bleedingandbarefoot.com/.
The Institute’s award-winning experts can prepare you and your staff to help save lives during an active shooter situation. Schedule active shooter preparedness training at your school, child care program, religious organization, day camp, Government facility, after-school program, or Head Start program today: https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/training.