WILLIAMSTOWN, Ky. — The tornadoes that hit Kentucky last December meant an emergency response from across the country. One of the teams who responded was the Cincinnati chapter of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance. While they were helping with rescue and recovery efforts in Dawson Springs, chapter commander Dave Jardon said he realized a need.
“We've seen the rural departments that are so underfunded,” Jardon said. “They don't have a Band-Aid or an Aspirin in their car, let's try to do something.”
As a result, Jardon and his team of volunteers made up of veterans and first responders decided they wanted to supply deputies with a special box packed with essential items to help them every day and when trauma strikes.
“To try to get the police perspective, we came to the Grant County Sheriff's Department. We sat down and brainstormed with them about what kind of trauma kit do we want to see,” Jardon said.
The group now has a goal to equip every sheriff’s office in the state of Kentucky with those kits.
Jardon said they decided on hand sanitizer and basic first aid items for daily use and then a trauma pack in the event the deputy needs to treat a stab wound or gunshot wound. All of it would be packed into a plastic ammunition container for easy access.
“They pull it out, they rip it open everything they need to stabilize a person with a major bleed, whether it's to the center of mass or an extremity is right in there, a combat applied tourniquet, the chest seal for anything on the center of mass, packing gauze, the trauma dressing,” Jardon said. “It's all there so that they can stabilize themselves or victim before even first responders like fire and EMS can get there."
Jardon made the first presentation of trauma kits to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office. Sheriff Brian Maines said the donation of the kits is a morale booster for his deputies as it reinforces that they’re supported by those they serve.
“It makes us feel at ease that now the deputies are going to have the tools to not only save themselves in a life-threatening situation, but also a victim they may encounter while on patrol and add a savings to the community,” Maines said.
The kits will supply every cruiser and can buy some time when deputies are in rural areas awaiting EMS to arrive on-scene.
“It could be upwards of 30-35 minutes before an ambulance could get to,” Maines said. “So it speaks volumes to know that now we'll have the tools to go ahead and stop that bleeding or stop that chest wound and at least stabilize them until the ambulance can get there.”
Dave Jardon worked with MTM Molded Products in Dayton to create the plastic ammunition boxes for the kits. He also worked with the Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati to gather the hand sanitizers for the kit.
Each trauma kit costs $65 to create and the Cincinnati chapter of Sheep Dog Impact Assistance works off donations to make this possible. If you’d like to donate you can visit their Facebook page.
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