ESD & BMHD partner to bring Stop the Bleed course to Grant County schools
By Logan Bagett on Monday, December 15th, 2025 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
JOHN DAY – Students in Grant County have been learning crucial trauma response skills through the internationally known Stop the Bleed course, made possible through the Grant County Education Service District and Blue Mountain Hospital. Recently on KJDY’s Coffee Time, Grant ESD’s School Safety Prevention Specialist Gordon Larson explained how this all came about:
“Since I began with the ESD, one of the directives from our Superintendent Robert Waltenburg has been to really work aggressively to assist the schools with emergency operations plans…and not only the schools, but the individual students and staff. That’s what brought the Stop the Bleed program to mind.”
BMHD’s Trauma Program Manager Mindy Stinnett said that she and Makaela Hughet have been teaching the class. She explained in a nutshell what the Stop the Bleed course entails:
“The training includes a lecture and, also, hands-on practice. We go through how you know it’s life-threatening bleeding and how to stop it.”
Stinnett said thanks to grant funding, each student who participates in the course gets to take home a personal Stop the Bleed Kit. In addition, each participating school has gotten “Public Access Bleeding Control Stations.”
Mindy Stinnett is also the Injury Prevention Coordinator and Clinical Nurse Educator at Blue Mountain Hospital. She said in addition to the materials specific to the course, class participants have been specifically learning about injuries related to agriculture and firearms as well:
“You know, it just kind of came off-the-cuff to talk a little bit about how to be safe in agriculture and how to be safe when we’re using firearms. It’s real life for us out here.”
Districts that have received the course this school year include Monument, Long Creek, and Dayville; and Stinnett said they plan to teach at Grant Union and Prairie City as well.
Listen to the full podcast below:
**Photos courtesy of Gordon Larson**
