Nashville School Probably Unprepared For Assault Rifle Wounds

WASHINGTON - March 27, 2023 - PRLog -- The woman who shot and killed six people in a mass shooting at a Nashville school reportedly was armed with two assault-style rifles.

But the school was probably completely unprepared for wounds from such a weapon which usually require immediate treatment to prevent victims from literally bleeding to death long before first responders can possible arrive, says professor John Banzhaf

Banzhaf, a former security officer and consultant, is the author of a worldwide study of school shootings published in University World News:
How Can Schools Tackle the Threat of Active Shooters? (https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20221011124140599)

Unfortunately, in the months since the study was published, and also widely reported - for example 11 Solutions to Thwart School Shootings (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/washington-secrets/list-11-quick-fixes-to-thwart-school-shootings) - it appears that most schools have not taken even the most fundamental and widely recommended precautions to reduce the death toll.

Below is the study's report on preparing for the special injuries caused by assault-style rifles, and a specific recommendation which has been adopted by some schools - the University of Maryland is a shining example - but unfortunately not by most.

That's why Banzhaf suggests that, regardless of the specific facts in today's Nashville shooting, media quiz the school about what basic preparations is has and also has not taken, given that school shootings have now become so commonplace as to be "foreseeable," at least in a legal sense.

Here is what the study reported about the special need to be prepared for wounds caused by assault rifles.

Bullet wounds caused by an AR-15 and a similar rifle, apparently the guns of choice of many mass shooters, typically produce huge gaping injuries which can cause a victim to bleed to death in only a few minutes, long before trained medics can arrive.

That's why public health experts have created the Stop The Bleed Coalition (https://stopthebleedcoalition.org/?gclid=CjwKCAjw-8qVBhAN...) to raise public awareness of this new problem.

The Coalition and other experts recommend that schools have ready-made and easy-to-use tourniquets which can be applied immediately by lay persons to prevent blood loss until medics can arrive and take over.

RECOMMENDATION -  To reduce the rapid deaths by uncontrolled bleeding caused by high-speed bullets from AR-15 and other similar school-shooter weapons, schools should either have a sufficient number of Stop the Bleed Kits or home-made tourniquets readily available, AND provide instructions via cell-phone apps or otherwise to help professors and students control arterial bleeding in an emergency.

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf