Manatee County, FL— The Spirit of Blue Foundation presented the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office a $31,592 check Thursday to equip all MCSO deputies with tourniquets and duty belt cases. Tourniquets are critical pieces of safety equipment that can mean the difference between life and death for a deputy injured on duty or in training. Manatee County residents may also be rescued with the use of one of these tools.
“We know this will save lives. This will not only help the citizens of Manatee County if we respond to a call before EMS gets there by giving us the ability to stop the bleeding. It’s going to be critical during a violent encounter if we have a deputy that’s been shot or severely injured that we have this tool on our belt to help save their life," said Sheriff Rick Wells during Thursday's press conference.
The grant includes 450 Gen7 C-A-T Tourniquets from North American Rescue and 450 RIGID TQ Cases with basket weave and gray on black cross patch from Eleven-10 to be worn by each deputy while on duty.
“If there is an accident scene or traumatic injury, the Sheriff’s Office will likely be first on scene so the application of these tourniquets will save lives, and this C-A-T Tourniquet is the benchmark for tourniquets,” said MCSO SWAT Medic Casey Andrews.
Spirit of Blue Foundation will replace any tourniquet that is used in the line of duty, whether on a deputy or member of the community, for the life of the tourniquet so that no deputy who uses their tourniquet will have to go without one in the future.
“My best friend lost his brother in the line of duty. He was a Maine State Trooper, and I was so moved that I had to be a part of this. Not being in the law enforcement community, we take for granted and don’t realize what each and every one of you do to make our lives better,” said Spirit of Blue Vice-Chairman Gregory Marholin.
“This is something that would have taken us a couple of budget cycles to pull off. We don’t get this funding without the help of these outstanding partners. These are going to be something we can look back on one day and we’ll report to you when they are used. Because they were on the deputy and could be used quickly within seconds, we’ll tell you how many lives we’re able to save because of this,” said Sheriff Wells.
The grant is primarily funded by a generous donation from Law Enforcement United (LEU), a national organization of active and retired law enforcement officers, along with surviving family members of lost officers, who raise money and ride an average of 250 miles on bicycles into Washington, DC each year for National Police Week to honor fallen officers. A portion of the funds support Spirit of Blue Foundation. Since their founding in 2009 LEU has raised over $6,750,000 for law enforcement causes. Also sponsoring this grant are North American Rescue, Eleven-10, and the Farmers' Insurance Hansen Agency in Lakewood Ranch, Florida.
“Our particular charity (Spirit of Blue) is not about memorializing officers who have lost their lives, which is so important- it’s focused on preventing it. We actually see the lives we save by the contributions we make from these grants,” said Marholin.
PHOTO ID: (L-R) Capt. Andy Ramdath, Sheriff Rick Wells, Spirit of Blue Vice-Chairman Greg Marholin, Farmers’ Insurance- Hansen Agency Owner Larry Hansen