Floyd police now better equipped to save lives
Special tourniquet kits are now in every Floyd County Police cruiser.
Floyd County Police are now better able to respond to life threatening situations, thanks to a Stop the Bleed grant of $6,000 and training offered through Redmond Regional Medical Center.
80 specialized Stop the Bleed kits have been purchased to put tourniquet-type kits in every Floyd County Police cruiser.
Chief Mark Wallace said the life-saving training represents, “Another tool in our tool kit to help the public.” Wallace said several years ago an officer was able to save the leg — and possibly the life — of a man seriously injured in a motorcycle wreck with his personal knowledge of how to apply a tourniquet.
Floyd County Police Public Information Officer Jerome Poole said every officer on the force went through the training program over the course of the past five weeks. Jaina Carnes, a registered nurse at Redmond, said 75 percent of the county police had never received any special tourniquet training, although all are trained in CPR.
Carnes said the funding for the kits statewide was the result of a million dollar appropriation by the legislature in March of 2017 that was parceled out to communities across the state through the Georgia Trauma Commission. Floyd County Wellness Coordinator Sandi McCollum said the money for the local kits was also a pass through from the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
“I’d love to be able to get them to the city police,” Carnes said. She explained that grant funding is still available through the end of June.
In the meantime, Carnes said Redmond, which is a Level Three Trauma Center, is working with school systems in Floyd, Polk and Chattooga counties to get a Stop the Bleed kit into every local school.
“I just delivered the first 12 to Trion Elementary School Tuesday,” Carnes said.