Indy Police Receive 1,000 Trauma Kits

Indianapolis police are better equipped to respond to emergencies and injuries.

All officers now have trauma kits to use in life threatening situations. 

Nearly 1,000 kits were put together and given to officers, Tuesday. That is on top of the 500 that were distributed since September.

Fraternal Order of Police First Vice President Rick Snyder says they have been used to save lives of civilians and officers.

"We had a child that was shot in a drive by shooting.  One of our officers who just received a kit (24 hours earlier) was able to deploy it, utilize the bandage component of the kit, and was actually able to stop the bleeding of the child's arm where they had sustained a gunshot wound," he said.  "We were actually told late that had that not occurred, the child very well would have bled out and would have died."

He says a kit also was used by a SWAT officer who was wounded in a shootout last week.

"One of the four SWAT officers who was injured in a recent incident was able to deploy a tourniquet and administered it to himself to stop the bleeding of the gunshot wound," said Snyder.

Community organizations donated $150,000 for the kits, and Snyder says next they will try to equip other agencies in Carmel, Greenwood and Greenfield.

The kits include a tourniquet for arterial bleeding, an Israeli bandage for gaping wounds, airway devices for keeping unconscious people breathing and trauma sheers.