VALLEY BROOK, Okla. – It started out as a normal traffic stop but ended with Valley Brook Officer Brian Southerland in the hospital…
…Officials said the officer had his back turned and was making his way back to his vehicle when the driver shot him in the leg.“It’s dangerous anytime you pull somebody over and, in this case, he had actually already made contact with the person he had pulled over and, then, he turned around to walk back to the vehicle,” said Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Spokesman Mark Opgrande. “A sheriff’s deputy arrived on the scene and began giving CPR and putting a tourniquet on him to stop the bleeding.”
Source: Suspect still on the loose after shooting, seriously injuring Oklahoma officer | KFOR.com
Officer Southerland is recuperating and the culprit (a felon, what a surprise) has been arrested.
I did forget to update you guys on the gift for the Missus. The Oh Shit Pack that is described back in November was surprise and kinda overwhelmed her, but we took time and I got her to practice with the spare tourniquet till she felt confident. How do I know she felt confident? She was giggling like a schoolgirl when my extremities went numb and then when the pain of flowing blood returned to them.
I am gonna tell you what I told her: This is not where you keep the band aids and the headache pills, you should have your WalMart Johnson & Johnson kit aside for that minutia.. This is for emergencies only, a big Hit Shit The fan and it goes to you FIRST. You don’t use it on anybody unless all hints of threat are gone and you are safe and uninjured. If you are going to keep it n the office, you do not tell anybody about it and keep it hidden but accessible. Basically, treat is as a concealed weapon: Nobody needs to know, and it is to keep you alive. Everybody else comes a distant second.
I just rechecked the prices and the whole thing is still affordable with the tourniquet still at $14,97. There is no excuse not to have one or three. Go get it and go get training. If you carry ear protection and eye protection to the range, it does not make sense not to have unnecessary blood spill protection in your range bag.
Thank you for the nudge, Miguel. I’ve been meaning to buy some additional ones and you cannot beat that price. Will be here by Friday!
John
If you are going to keep it n the office, you do not tell anybody about it and keep it hidden but accessible
Sorry, that’s wrong. Difficult though it may be, on-body carry is required. If you need a tourniquet you need it RFN, not 1/2 – 2 minutes away. Which is why one always carries a minimum set of keys – car & house – on their person. If one is away from one’s desk and one has to immediately evacuate the building (either workplace, store or even a friend’s house), the opportunty to return to the desk to retrieve car and house keys will not exist. You may find yourself outside, and safe, but with no way to access your car to obtain necessary supplies/equipment, or drive home, and no easy way to get inside once one arrives at home by whatever means. Men have pockets, women need to come up with a different way to always carry those two keys (be aware that some cars require a fancy (and expensive) “chipped” key to start, but can be opened with a cheap cut key).
If you cannot keep a tourniquet within arm’s reach, don’t waste the money buying one because the odds are it won’t be where you need it when you need it. (I once worked someplace where a quantity of AEDs were purchased and installed in wall-mounted cabinets, but those cabinets were in areas behind badge-access doors so they wouldn’t be tampered with or stolen; 80% of the staff did not have access to those areas…..).
I am gonna have to disagree. We are talking about a package which is 9″ x 6.25″ x 1 in bright red that you simply will not carry in most office environments, specially women. Under that principle, we shouldn’t even worry about having a life-saving device of any kind at work or at home because it is not on you.
Maybe you can MOLLE on Casual Fridays, but other than that…
miguel: I’m an ex DFD medic, and, ref the TQ, well, Alien makes an excellent point. Granted, going all “active shooter” will (at the very least) draw unwanted attention. what works for me is a “Rip-Offs” clip on belt holster. I explain it as a secondary to my primary belt cased flashlight. ( “Worked in ICU, at a hospital with monthly power failures. Did you know ventilator alarms are battery powered? Not the vent, but the alarm. Mighty dark at night!” ) and, to Alien’s point, yes when you need a TQ, you, do, indeed NEED it, RFN!. ref self care, you might not have 2 minutes, or an open path to your desk/locker.
in any event, THANK YOU fot your “Holy Shit! Kit” post. well stated, timely, and on target.