CINCINNATI — When Carl Whalen left the military, where he served as a combat medic in the Army, he felt there was a hole left behind.
“After you get out of the military you lose that sense of purpose,” Whalen said.
Feeling like he was missing something, Whalen eventually created a nonprofit with his wife that had a focus on honoring fallen first responders and military service members. Back The Heroes Rumble hosted car shows and golf outings to raise funds for the immediate family members left behind.
Whalen said it gives him the purpose he was missing.
“It makes me feel like I have a newfound purpose,” he said.
Eventually, he added a new mission to his nonprofit after realizing that many smaller departments lack some vital lifesaving equipment due to budget constraints. That’s when Operation Open Arms was created to help subsidize some things.
“We're a little different with our charity,” he explained to a room of first responders. “Instead of granting funds to a program, we just buy the equipment for the departments directly.”
Operation Open Arms focuses on providing equipment to smaller fire and police departments. For example, he recently gave Pierce Township fire department 120 Nomex hoods that cost five times what the standard protective hoods cost and provide better protection.
“So the particulate hood is the baseline level of protection for the head and neck for our firefighters and these particular hoods are designed to remove about 99% of the contaminants that can come into contact with your skin so it's a very good cancer preventative measure that we've not been able to purchase through the township funding,” said Jim Watkins, Assistant Fire Chief of Pierce Township.
Whalen also provided 11 Unication radios to the Trenton Ohio Fire and Rescue.
“These will go to members who live in town that will be able to respond to an emergency. These radios will be a notification to them that we need assistance, and they will be able to respond,” said Trenton Fire Chief Darrell Yater.
The City of Bethel and the Village of Williamsburg received 12 trauma and bleed control kits that contain a tourniquet and other lifesaving equipment.
“A lot of times we are the first ones on scene, we're the ones who get there before anyone else to provide care for somebody,” said Williamsburg Police Chief Maggie Timmers.
In all, Whalen said he handed out around $22,000 in equipment which is made possible by support from a wide range of companies and the community.
He says being able to do what he is doing fulfills his purpose.
“My passion was to serve and take care of people and save lives,” he said. “Now I can do that even though I'm no longer to do that on a paid status basis or because of my disabilities from the service I can still do that and be a front runner in doing that for our first responders.”
The fifth annual Back The Heroes Rumble car show is Aug. 5 at West Clermont High School. You can find all the details by visiting their website.
If you have a veteran story to tell in your community, email homefront@wcpo.com. You also can join the Homefront Facebook group, follow Craig McKee on Facebook and find more Homefront stories here.
