Nubia Ptah knew the person lying on the colorful rug wasn’t really shot. She knew the T-shirt tourniquet being tied wasn’t really necessary and that the various invisible wounds weren’t real.
But for Ptah, just watching a person pretend to be riddled with bullets was unnerving.
Ptah is not a first responder. Instead, she and roughly a dozen others were learning how to respond and give aid to a person who suffers a gunshot wound in real-time situations.
They learned how everyday items, such as empty potato chip or zip-lock bags, can be used in the absence of first-aid kit supplies in an emergency.
As the gun control debate rages on in the wake of recent mass shootings, local community organizers are working in the reality of living with everyday gun violence.
With the official start of summer little more than a week away, grassroots organizations in Chicago, for instance, are gearing up to host activities in 24 city neighborhoods that experience high levels of gun violence. Martine Caverl, a registered nurse, is continuing to give a series of first-responder trainings on Chicago’s South and West sides.
Caverl and her team of trained volunteers have taken on their mission to protect lives through emergency and community care first response skills thanks to an $8,400 grant provided by Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities.
The nonprofit is a coalition of more than 50 local foundations and funders and has provided $1.5 million this year to grassroots organizations like Caverl’s.
During the two-hour workshop last month, participants learned how to handle a 911 call, how to apply a tourniquet with clothing or use an occlusive dressing to keep blood in a shooting victim’s body with everyday items like a discarded plastic grocery bag or clean sanitary pad.
The participants also learned about how to cope with bystanders, how to ask for consent to give aid and other universal precautions.
In a city often rocked by daily shootings, the workshops are not only potentially lifesaving, but also community-building, Caverl said.
The trainings have been taught in living rooms, at backyard barbecues, in barbershops and schools.
During the workshop, Caverl and her team would ask the volunteers if they were OK after each shooting scenario. The volunteers would respond affirmatively, but they also had the opportunity to talk with others on-site willing to listen or take a moment to regroup outside of the space.
After the training concluded, Ptah told Caverl the event was “awesome.” She said the most important thing for her was them asking about individual volunteers’ wellness and frame of mind after volunteering for each scenario.
“It kept me present when they asked if I was OK. It secured my sanity,” she said.
Caverl’s response: “That’s what we need.”
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