Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook and Palmetto Health officials announce efforts to safeguard the lives of citizens, victims, suspects and officers with the distribution and use of tactical first aid kits.
The provisions of more than 320 kits from Palmetto Health are part of CPD’s comprehensive plan to improve officer safety and wellness and follows Pillar 6 of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
The first aid kits contain valuable medical items including a tourniquet, gauze and abdominal pads, and an emergency blanket.
Chief Holbrook says, “You never know what the next call will bring. We are first responders. Aside from crime solving and prevention, we protect lives. These kits can preserve a life and are extensions of our overall safety efforts.”
Chief Holbrook initially spoke about the partnership with Palmetto Health President, John Singerling during the devastating floods last year.
“It made total sense to make this partnership happen,” Singerling says. “Palmetto Health stands ready to assist the Columbia Police Department with basic care needs. We are glad to see CPD join the chain of survival.”
The kits were designed for officers to assist with immediate emergency needs such as reducing blood loss until emergency personnel can arrive on scene.
The kits were designed for officers to assist with emergency needs such as the reducing blood loss until emergency personnel can arrive on the scene.
Singerling says, “It made total sense to make this partnership happen. Palmetto Health stands ready to assist the Columbia Police Department with basic care needs. We are glad to see CPD join the chain of survival.”
Palmetto Health’s Professional Director of Emergency Services doctor Bill Gerard adds, “The size of the kit has no correlation of the tremendous impact the supplies will have on patients. Police officers are often first ones on the scene. It’s extremely reassuring that we have more resources for those who respond to tragic incidents.”
Prior to the full deployment of the kits, officers will receive sixteen hours of medical training on the kits to include basic first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and automated external defibrillator (AED) use.
For more information on CPD’s additional 21st Century Policing Initiatives, CLICK HERE.