The stars of a pair of U.S. TV medical dramas are giving real-life, potentially life-saving advice to Ukrainians on how to staunch bleeding wounds amid the Russian invasion.
Ryan Eggold, who plays a doctor on NBC’s “New Amsterdam,” along with “Good Sam’s” Sophia Bush, teamed up for the “Stop the Bleed” public service announcement (PSA) released Thursday.
“We only play medical professionals on TV, but with the help of the American College of Surgeons and the American Red Cross, we’d like to give you some information on how to stop a bleed when you don’t have access to a medical professional,” Eggold told viewers in the video posted on YouTube and subtitled in Ukrainian.
“If you have gloves, put them on first. If you don’t have gloves, that’s OK,” said Bush.
Removing or tearing away clothing to see the wound, applying pressure directly to the bleeding blood vessel, and using a clean towel or one’s hands in a criss-cross position if no bandage is available are among some of the tips offered.
“Push hard with both hands, keeping your elbows straight and leaning in with your full body weight to apply direct pressure for at least five minutes,” Alejandro Hernandez, another actor on “New Amsterdam,” advised.
“If the bleeding hasn’t stopped, apply pressure again,” CBS star Bush said.
Bush said in a Thursday Twitter post, “It was hard to get through this without crying, but I’m honored to use the platform of medical dramas to help teach at-risk civilians how to #StopTheBleed.”
“We stand with Ukraine,” the 39-year-old actor wrote, encouraging her more than 1.2 million Twitter followers to share the PSA “far and wide so we can help get it in front of those who need to see if most.”