OC Deputies go through Tourniquet Training

Deputies with the Oconee County Sheriff’s Office recently went through training with the tourniquet kits that all certified deputies now carry due to the support of the community and the people from Tactical Medical Solutions of Anderson.  All certified Oconee County Deputies now have tourniquet kits, which contain a tourniquet and several bandages, and materials that can be used to treat wounds on themselves, other Deputies, or other individuals.  A fundraiser was held earlier this year on June 15th in Fair Play, which was sponsored by the Gazebo Restaurant, Lake and Land Realty, and Phantom Fireworks which raised over $2,100 for the purchase of the DOK kits.  With 20 kits donated by Tactical Medical Solutions that means all certified officers will have one of the kits.  The training sessions lasted two hours and during the training, supplied as a courtesy by Tactical Medical Solutions, officers learned the proper way to apply the tourniquet to different limbs of the body and where the best places are to apply those tourniquets on those parts of the body.  If a tourniquet cannot be used, officers were trained on how to use the other bandages contained in the DOK kits. “The training the officers went through was basically a two hour first aid course,” according to Jeff Underwood, Captain of the Road Patrol division of the Sheriff’s Office.  “The training taught them how to use everything that came with their kits.  The number one item in the kits was the tourniquets and the officers needed to know how to apply them if they are going to have them.  The other bandages and gauze and sterile equipment that are in the kits they needed to know how to properly apply it.” Going forward from here, according to Captain Underwood, there will be yearly training through an online training portal for a refresher course each year.  The training that each officer received is very critical, according to Captain Underwood. “A lot of times you find yourself on a wreck scene or you go to an assault or something along those lines where someone needs immediate medical attention but the officers may not have had the training to deal with it.  You are sitting there and simply trying to comfort someone when they actually need some medical first aid until EMS can arrive on scene or we secure the scene where it is safe for EMS to come in.” The training that the officers received in recent weeks came into use yesterday, as two deputies responded and assisted other emergency units in the rescue of a hiker at Yellow Branch Falls who shot himself accidentally.  The tourniquet was not used yesterday due to the location of the wound, but the training deputies received came in handy until other emergency units arrived on the scene.  “What the officer was able to do is what is called “packing the wound,” where you put an absorbent clotting material where you pack that material down in the wound and it stops the bleed.  The hiker was deep in the woods; about one and a half to two miles deep into this trail and two of our officers trekked in there pretty quick and they needed to do something to help him until they could get him out of there.” Captain Underwood said it is essential for officers to have these kits considering that officers respond to emergency situation by themselves until other units get on scene.  The ability to care for others, as well as themselves, makes these DOK kits indispensable, according to Captain Underwood.  “If they get into a situation where they find themselves injured, shot or something of that nature, they can treat themselves and help themselves out.  If they come across a fellow officer or partner that is in that kind of condition to help themselves, then they can turn around and help their partner.  Obviously, the benefits to the everyday citizen, like yesterday, where they were able to give that kind of aid where possible.  There’s going to be a lot of situations that we are not trained for that we can’t manage, but that essential first aid could be the difference.”