Twenty-two kits were recently purchased through a fund raiser organized by resident Sandy Fenske. Local residents donated money towards the purchase of the kits that have been placed in every city police vehicle, SHAES fire apparatus and support vehicles that would be called to an incident where victims may have serious bleeding.

Pictured, left to right: Police Chief Natalie Thompson, Sandy Fenske, SHAES Chief Ron Wise

“SHAES ambulances already have the needed equipment, but may not always be the first to arrive on scene,” said SHAES Chief Ron Wise. “The small kit can be easily grabbed by a responding firefighter or police officer and its contents quickly applied to a wound thus increasing the patient’s chance of survival.”

The kits include a tourniquet, large absorbent pressure dressing, compressed gauze for packing an uncontrolled bleeding wound, scissors for removing clothing and protective gloves.

“The kits allow for a much more robust supply of lifesaving equipment for our first responders,” said Police Chief Natalie Thompson. “Having the kits in all vehicles allows for a greater response capability in case of a multi-patient incident that could be spread out over large area.”

Sandy Fenske got the idea after watching an episode of the CBS television show “60 Minutes”. She contacted Chief Wise to see if the community’s first responders could benefit from having the kits. She immediately reached out to friends who generously supported the project with their contributions.

“Today, the most prevalent call on everyone’s mind is an active shooter incident, but beyond that type of scenario, these kits will be vital to early-arriving first responders at accident scenes or non-violent injury situations,” said Wise

“Thank you to my South Haven friends for their donations and SHAES for their support,” said Sandy Fenske. ” I know we all hope and pray that South Haven will never have an incident where this life saving equipment will be needed. Perhaps in the future we can also place these devises in all our schools as a safety measure.”

Read MLive story — https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2019/03/south-haven-woman-inspired-by-60-minutes-raises-funds-to-stop-the-bleed.html

Read WSJM account — https://www.wsjm.com/2019/03/06/citizens-donate-emergency-kits-to-south-haven-agencies/