Trauma Kits May Help Police Save Their Own

Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks announced Wednesday that the department’s officers will soon be equipped with “trauma shooting kits” to treat officers who have been wounded.

The kits, which include tape, gauze, bandages and other medical supplies, are intended to be used by officers to stop profuse bleeding.

Parks said he hopes the kits are “something that no officer will have to use.” Yet, he said, he also hopes it “gives officers an added sense of confidence that if something traumatic happens in the field, they will have one more piece of equipment that can help them save their partner’s life.”

In the past, Los Angeles police officers literally have ripped the shirts off their backs to try to stop the bleeding of their critically wounded colleagues. Such was the case New Year’s Eve when officers used a shirt to wrap the gunshot wound of Officer Cynthia French.

French, who lost part of her lung and spleen as a result of the shooting, joined the chief at his monthly meeting with the media to unveil the kit.

“These kits would have been useful that night,” said French, who is still recuperating. “I will certainly carry one when I get back in the field.”

At the news conference, Parks gave French and officers who helped save her life that night the first trauma kits. The chief also presented one to Officer Rosemary Piazza, who used her uniform shirt as a compress for Officer Filbert Cuesta, who was fatally wounded last year.

The kits were donated by the Los Angeles Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Parks and his wife, Bobbie. The foundation, which raises money for police needs identified by Parks, paid about $158,000 for 10,000 kits, or just under $16 apiece.

Parks said the LAPD “will be the first department in the United States that will have trauma kits issued to every officer in the field.”

In other police matters Wednesday, the chief and Mayor Richard Riordan urged voters to approve a $744-million bond measure on the April ballot to upgrade, replace or build police and fire stations.

Riordan and Parks also announced the expansion of a home mortgage program for police and firefighters offering low-interest loans with little or no down payments required, if they purchase homes within the city.

The program, they said, seeks to attract more public safety officers into the city. According to some surveys, more than 80% of police and firefighters reside outside Los Angeles.