Mass shootings don't happen a lot in Quebec but the ones in the U.S. have inspired a Montreal-area sports therapist and a police officer to come up with a program to be prepared and to train people on how to treat injuries involving massive bleeding.
Sports therapist Marc-Antoine Doré said he and his partner in the venture, police officer François Robert were inspired by a U.S. program called Stop the Bleed that trains bystanders to help those injured in shootings before police and paramedics arrive.
"It was almost everywhere in the U.S. and one existed in Quebec," said Doré.
The program suggests that 20% of those who were injured and who died after massive bleeding could have been saved with immediate measures.
Doré said he was also inspired by his own personal experience with his girlfriend who suffered massive bleeding at home one day.
"The paramedics, firefighters and police were all on a different page concerning (on how to stop the bleeding). We have to make sure we're on the same page," said Doré in an interview with CJAD 800 News.
Doré and Robert are conducting training programs in the next couple of weeks including at the school and clinic where Doré works. It's an hour-long course that costs about $20-30 and includes a kit with a guidebook, sterilized gloves, gauze and a tourniquet.
Doré said he thinks integrating such a program into existing CPR training programs could work.
"We know this program can be applied for other things such as car accidents, such as work-related injuries so I think it can benefit a lot of people in Quebec," said Doré.