A simple viewing of a CBS Television episode of “60 Minutes” has resulted in a citizen crusade to help South Haven Police and Fire personnel better handle serious bleeding emergencies through acquisition of Stop the Bleed kits for the department.
South Haven Area Emergency Services (SHAES) and City of South Haven Police are now better equipped to handle such serious situations thanks to Sandy Fenske’s campaign.
Twenty-two Stop the Bleed kits were recently purchased through a fund raiser organized by Fenske, a resident of South Haven. She and other local residents donated money towards the purchase of the kits that have been placed in every city police vehicle, SHAES fire apparatus and support vehicles that would be called to an incident where victims may have serious bleeding.
SHAES Chief Ron Wise says, “SHAES ambulances already have the needed equipment, but may not always be the first to arrive on scene,” and notes, “The small kit can be easily grabbed by a responding firefighter or police officer and its contents quickly applied to a wound thus increasing the patient’s chance of survival.”
The kits include a tourniquet, large absorbent pressure dressing, compressed gauze for packing an uncontrolled bleeding wound, scissors for removing clothing and protective gloves.
Police Chief Natalie Thompson says, “The kits allow for a much more robust supply of lifesaving equipment for our first responders,” and adds, “Having the kits in all vehicles allows for a greater response capability in case of a multi-patient incident that could be spread out over large area.”
Sandy Fenske got the idea after watching an episode of CBS’s “60 Minutes.” She contacted Chief Wise to see if the community’s first responders could benefit from having the kits. She immediately reached out to friends who generously supported the project with their contributions.
Chief Wise says, “Today, the most prevalent call on everyone’s mind is an active shooter incident, but beyond that type of scenario, these kits will be vital to early-arriving first responders at accident scenes or non-violent injury situations.”
For her part, Fenske says, “Thank you to my South Haven friends for their donations and SHAES for their support,” and says, “I know we all hope and pray that South Haven will never have an incident where this life saving equipment will be needed. Perhaps in the future we can also place these devices in all our schools as a safety measure.”
The photo accompanying this story on Moody on the Market is courtesy of Tom Renner. Pictured are, left to right: Police Chief Natalie Thompson, Sandy Fenske, SHAES Chief Ron Wise.
