Jacksonville police are equipping their squad cars with emergency equipment that could help save lives.
Medical kits containing such things as gauze, trauma dressings and CPR masks are being made available through a $3,000 donation from the Citizens Police Academy Alumni, which is money raised from the annual Central Illinois Policeman’s Ball.
A medical bag will go in each squad car and help with assisting police when responding to a situation that has a medical emergency. The items do not require training outside of what officers already have, although Chief Adam Mefford said the department is training officers in more-advanced medical response.
“Several months ago, when I took over, we started doing vehicle inventory and tried to figure out what we could put in vehicles to promote safety in the community and help our officers be better first responders when it comes to emergency situations,” Mefford said. “We came up with the idea of putting advanced medical bags in the cars to help with what we like to call ‘the two Bs’ — control the bleeding and breathing until the paramedics get there — so we can save more lives.”
The money from the group helped provide enough to buy kits for 15 cars, including those used by school resource officers and investigators. The funds also allowed the department to tailor the kits to their specification.
Citizens Police Academy Alumni President Tom Cisne said the group tries to give something back to police and the community.
“That’s what we’re all about,” he said. “It’s just doing our part to give back.”
Citizens Police Academy and alumni members put in thousands of volunteer hours to assist the community and the police in various ways. For example, academy members are at the Morgan County Fair to assist as needed and to contact police in the event of an emergency.
