Deputies from the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office soon will have another tool at its disposal after the office purchased tourniquets for every car on patrol.
Tracy Whited, head of community and media relations for the sheriff’s office, said they have purchased 100 trauma kits that come with a tourniquet, gauze, trauma dressing, gloves and shears.
Whited said the need for the tourniquets arose because deputies sometimes arrive at the scene of an accident or incident before medical personal. Whited said deputies are out on the road patrolling and broadly speaking are in the area when an accident occurs but emergency medical personnel have to come from stations spread out around the county.
Delaware County Sheriff Russell Martin said the sheriff’s office is excited and prepared for the change.
“Law enforcement officers are often first on scene and are in a position to provide critical first-aid to injured victims,” Martin said. “With the addition of tourniquets to our trauma kits, we can provide life-saving aid until medics arrive. Our deputies are expected to play a lot of different roles, and when we equip them with the proper tools and quality training, we provide an even better service for our citizens.”
The trauma kits costs the office $9,000 and will soon be in every patrol car. The sheriff’s office also purchased an additional 100 tourniquets for $4,000 that will be carried on every deputies belt.
Whited said deputies regularly receive first aid training but get frequent refreshers for techniques like CPR and use of a defibrillator.
The sheriff’s office expects to roll the new equipment out in three to four weeks, after they give deputies training for the tourniquets. Whited said many deputies know how to use them broadly but the training will address the nuances of the item.
Whited said the training courses will likely conclude next week, but said it’s difficult to train so many employees without pulling them off of the road.
