M.O.S.S.: “Making Our Schools Safe.” This slogan aligns with the ideals and priorities of students nationwide. As of this year, it’s echoing through the Staples halls with seven new “Stop the Bleed” tourniquets that M.O.S.S. placed throughout the school.
Staples students Zander Bauer ’26 and Elijah Falkenstein ’26 are the co-founders and co-presidents of the Staples chapter of M.O.S.S., an organization originally founded by Lori Alhadeff in 2019 in light of the Parkland Tragedy, a shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
“Its mission is to empower students and staff to help create and maintain a culture of safety and vigilance in a secure school environment,” Bauer said.
The branch launched earlier this year with the goal of working toward a safer environment through communication and the implementation of panic buttons and Stop The Bleed Kits.
So far, M.O.S.S. has had a strong start with the implementation of the tourniquets, medical devices used to apply pressure on a wounded limb to cease blood flow and prevent a person from bleeding out, throughout the school. Staff members have already received training in case they need to be used.
“In general, I think this training can be considered basic life skills because there are so many situations that can arise in your home, like in the kitchen, or if you are in or witness a car accident,” science teacher Heather Wirkus said. “This training could also be beneficial in classes like tech, culinary and even some science classes. I often forget that not everyone has a science or medical background and sometimes these skills do not come easily to many.”
The potential usage of the tourniquets has also been made apparent to students.
“I think the school having tourniquets is beneficial because it can be crucial to controlling bleeding in emergencies involving severe injuries,” Neha Singh ’26 said. “Tourniquets also don’t require [as much] extensive training, and can be crucial in saving lives, especially because we’re seeing such a devastating rise in gun violence.”
