UCHealth donates life saving kits to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- In the case of traumatic injuries, time is of the essence, especially in remote areas of the county where emergency medical personnel may not be immediately nearby. That's why UCHealth is donating new "Stop the Bleed Kits" to the El Paso County Sheriff's Office.

Jacqueline Kirby, with El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said, “These are going to be kits that deputies can keep in their car because sometimes especially in the rural parts of El Paso County, medical help can be 20-30 minutes away so this will definitely be a life-saving tool.”

Kirby says that most of the time, sheriff’s deputies are the first to arrive on the scene. These new kits will ensure deputies in El Paso County have the tools they need to help save a life in a traumatic emergency.

“There are some calls where law enforcement and medical will be called out together, but when law enforcement is more than likely the only one on scene, that’s when these kits will come in handy,” said Kirby.

So what exactly is included in these kits? Lori Morgan with UCHealth gave us a look through one.

“We have the kit with a marker pen, a card to remind you of the steps, and a pair of scissors to cut through the clothing to find the bleeding injury. And then when you open it up there will be four pairs of gloves, a tourniquet, and then four rolls of gauze,” said Morgan.

Uncontrolled bleeding is the number one cause of preventable death from trauma. So hopefully with these new kits, more lives will be saved.

Morgan said, “If you are there when something happens and you see something and you can do something you can save a life.”

And something to note, UCHealth actually offers free stop the bleed training to the public, so you too with the right training could possibly save a life.