Local law enforcement cruisers are now equipped with a “Stop the Bleed” kit provided by Clinton County Emergency Management Agency (EMA).
Sixty kits were distributed to county, city and village police departments to arm law enforcement with the ability to take life-saving steps until Emergency Medical Services (EMS) arrive.
“The leading cause of preventable death after injury is bleeding,” said Liberty Township Trustee Ron Stryker, who serves as vice president for the EMA Executive Committee and fire chief for Liberty Township Fire & EMS.
He added, “Someone who is severely bleeding can bleed out in as little as five minutes. By providing our law enforcement partners with the means to control life-threatening bleeding, they are increasing the survivability rate of a victim in need.”
Wilmington Police Chief Ron Cravens said, “Our officers put their lives on the line each and every day, with every call, as a result of someone else having a bad day. Locally, we are blessed with a great EMS team able to respond quickly, but sometimes you can be in a fluid situation trying to contain a threat while saving a life. Tools like this enable my officers to save lives.”
Richland Township Trustee Bob Hazelbaker said, “Clinton County EMA has multiple irons in the fire to increase the resilience of our community, which includes a program for post-disaster damage assessment, incident management for the County Emergency Operations Center, body armor for key EMS districts as they complete the Rescue Task Force training exercise, and additional projects supporting firefighters and the SWAT team.”
Hazelbaker continued, “As an EMA Executive Committee member, we have been discussing needs, options, and solutions that fell within our budget limitation so as to provide the best bang with taxpayer dollars.”
While funding for current investments within the county response enterprise are not generally covered under traditional grants available to the Emergency Management Agency, it was made possible through other projects that enabled Emergency Management Program Grant reimbursements.
For more information, contact EMA at 937-382-6673.
