When Elias reached out to Tom Penzel, who coordinates capstone projects for Glenwood Springs High School students, about bringing the trainings directly to the school, it was a no brainer, he recalled.
“I said, ‘Sure, let’s do it,’” he said. “We would have a community meeting upwards of 250 students. She’d do a presentation — sort of a slideshow introduction — then there’d be 25, 30 community members spread around the gym.”
Those community members included local first-responders and medical professionals, in addition to school staff.
“They were all EMS, police department, firefighters, doctors,” Penzel continued, describing the spring and fall events. “It was very cool. There was a station where smaller groups would gather around and all get to practice on these dummy limbs, where they would simulate bleeding and how you would stop the bleeding with gauze and tie a tourniquet. It was really great to see because it was hands on, and that’s great learning for students.”