Who:
Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
Support Services Bureau
-Grants Administration
Patrol Operations Bureau

Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation

What:                   
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office was awarded 423 Combat Application Tourniquets (CAT) with holders worth $17,870.00 through a Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation grant.

The Sheriff’s Office will be one of several local law enforcement/public safety agencies to participate in a dedication event hosted by Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation that will officially announce various awarded grants to include the CAT tourniquet grant received by the Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office has already experienced a possible lifesaving outcome with the use of the new tourniquet. The event program will include a demonstration of the use of this life-saving equipment.

When:
The dedication event is scheduled at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8, 2016.

Where:
The dedication event will be held at Firehouse Subs located at 4394 Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park.

Why/How:
A grant from Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has equipped 423 Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies, that also serve as first responders, with standard military issue combat application tourniquets with Kydex hard-sided holders for mounting on the deputies’ duty belt.

Proper and immediate application of the tourniquet can save lives in the event of an extremity hemorrhage. Furthermore, the ease of access from the duty belt as well as the ability to apply the CAT tourniquet with one-hand enables sheriff’s deputies to render aid to themselves in an emergency.

“We thank Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation for this grant,” said Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. “Law enforcement officers are often faced with life threatening situations in which it is unsafe for emergency personnel to enter. In these and other instances, the tourniquets can provide vital first aid for themselves and others in moments when time is of the essence,” he added.

The Sheriff’s Office has already experienced a possible life-saving outcome with the use of the tourniquet.

In early November 2015, deputies responded to a shooting in Dunedin in which the victim sustained multiple gunshot wounds. Deputies discovered the male victim laying on his back in the front yard of the residence. Deputies immediately began giving aid to the victim who had a gunshot wound to the upper arm, another to the upper right side of his chest and one to the left leg, just above the knee. One deputy applied the agency issued CAT tourniquet to his leg which stopped the bleeding, another deputy applied a second tourniquet to the victim’s arm which also appeared to control the bleeding, while they applied pressure to his torso to stop the bleeding from his chest. Deputies assisted the victim until paramedics arrived on scene.

The actions of the deputies along with the use of the CAT tourniquet may have potentially assisted in saving the victim’s life.

Firehouse Subs created the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation in 2005 with the mission of providing funding, life-saving equipment, and educational opportunities to first-responders and public safety organizations. Through the non-profit 501(c)(3), Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation has given more than $17 million to hometown heroes in 44 states and Puerto Rico, including more than $3.1 million in Florida.