GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- With advances in technology, many schools and public places have access to life-saving automatic defibrillators.

But fewer have an even simpler device that medical experts say is just as crucial -- tourniquet kits.

Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids is now promoting a campaign to get more tourniquet kits in public spaces, particularly as the nation seems to be dealing increasingly with mass-trauma tragedies such as the recent Parkland, Fla. shooting.

Laura Maclam, Spectrum Health Butterworth hospital's injury prevention and outreach coordinator for trauma services, is spearheading the local effort in connection with the national "Stop the Bleed" program.

Maclam and co-workers are offering low-cost or free training for companies and groups so more people can learn the proper technique of using a tourniquet. The training typically last 60-90 minutes.

The basic idea is to stop the blood flow to a wound on an arm or leg.

"A person can bleed to death in five minutes or less," Maclam said. "So often, the first-responder is the person standing next to you."

The Spectrum Health Foundation has donated $10,000 toward the effort, with funding going toward supplying the Spectrum Health campuses with kits, buying training materials and some "dummy" legs for practice purposes.

For organizations that want to purchase kits, they typically cost $60-70 each.

"This is training that probably everyone should receive," Maclam said. "Just like we teach CPR, people need to know how to stop active bleeding."

She said it's not necessarily intuitively obvious.

"A properly applied tourniquet may actually hurt," she said.

The "Stop the Bleed" program is under the guise of Homeland Security and is described as an effort "intended to cultivate grassroots efforts that encourage bystanders to become trained, equipped, and empowered to help in a bleeding emergency before professional help arrives."

For more information about training, call Maclam at 616-391-8641.