Community Champions, Heath First Partner To Save Lives

Donated Over 500 “Combat Action Tourniquets” To Brevard County Sheriff’s Office

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office is pleased to announce an incredible partnership with Tom Darnell, founder and President of Community Champions, and Health First, Supervising Medic David Schmitt who have joined together to create a Critical Incident Response and Active Shooter training for all Brevard County Deputy Sheriffs.

In addition to the training, Tom Darnell graciously donated over 500 “Combat Action Tourniquets” (CAT) to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office for use by our Patrol Members in the performance of their duties.

A major component of this training was designed to prepare our Law Enforcement Officers with real world knowledge and experience when faced with critical incidents and casualties.

One of the many skills the Deputies are being trained with is the life-saving skill of applying Combat Action Tourniquets (C.A.T.) to oneself or someone else in the event of a gunshot wound or deep tissue bleed.

The idea behind the use of these specialized devices is to rapidly minimize blood loss and allow officers to continue responding to a threat until they can receive medical treatment.

The professionals at Health First combined their experience, education and training with medical and combat research to demonstrate how these devices can save lives. The basic operating principle of the device and training has not changed since the Civil War. The device is designed to compresses damaged limbs to the point that blood vessels are squeezed shut and the bleeding stops.

As part of the partnership, Health First professionals volunteered to provide a two-day Tactical Casualty Care training course for the BCSO at absolutely no cost.

This type of training is common among Prehospital Trauma Care in military battlefields. Health First has provided staffing, research and all hands-on medical equipment training. To date, over 300 deputies have successfully completed the training.

These highly functional devices also come with a substantial cost involved in outfitting the Sheriff’s Office. Tom Darnell and his team at “Community Champions” learned of the valuable training and without hesitation, immediately responded by purchasing the necessary life-saving devices and donating them to our agency.

Each Deputy Sheriff will now receive the training and customized Tourniquet to be used in the event of a critical incident.

Tom Darnell stated, “I am humbled by the incredible sacrifices of our law enforcement officers. What has been traditionally limited to Fire Rescue or the EMS technician now must be provided to the hands of each officer who has the potential for facing a critical incident.

“I hope this small gesture by Community Champions in some way demonstrates the genuine appreciation for each and every Deputy Sheriff and helps bring them home at night to their loving families.”

A recent real-life example occurred earlier this year when BCSO Agent Richard Clements witnessed a traffic accident involving serious injuries just days after receiving training as a member of our SWAT Team.

Agent Clements immediately assessed the victims of the accident and witnessed that one of the occupants in the vehicle had a substantial partial amputation of an arm.

Agent Clements, quickly retrieved his assigned Tourniquet device from his patrol vehicle and applied it to the victim. His quick action and rapid response with applying this life saving device without question, saved this victim’s life according to Emergency Room personnel and surgeons.

The devices and life saving training can be the difference between life and death in a matter of seconds.

While Law Enforcement has improved its ability to minimize officer injury and death due to improvement in body armor, vehicle design, safety tactics and training, equipment such as this can truly make the difference in someone’s ability to survive a critical injury.

I’m truly honored to have such strong support from our community, Health First and Tom Darnell and his team at Community Champions to take an active role in the safety of our deputies and citizens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey has been a law enforcement officer for over three decades. Sheriff Ivey is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Daytona State College in Management and Supervision. Sheriff Ivey’s background in law enforcement is inclusive of Management, Criminal Investigations, Narcotics, Patrol Services, Public Integrity Investigations, and Corrections.

Prior to being elected in 2012, Sheriff Ivey served the citizens of the State of Florida as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. As a member of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Sheriff Ivey developed and created the country’s first ever statewide Task Force on Identity Theft.

That same year the Task Force was named one of the top five most innovative programs in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and investigated approximately 44 million dollars in fraud cases. Additionally, as a member of FDLE, Sheriff Ivey created the Child Abduction Response Team (C.A.R.T) that re-defined the way Child Abduction cases are conducted throughout the country today.

The program was later selected as the most innovative program in the country by the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is now used as a nationwide model in the response and investigation of child abductions.

Sheriff Ivey has testified before the United States Congress on law enforcement related matters and has extensive experience in the area of Public Integrity Investigations. Sheriff Ivey was honored as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Special Agent of the Year (1996) and was also recognized by the Commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for his Outstanding Contributions to Criminal Justice. In August of 2011 Sheriff Ivey was honored by the National Organization of Victims Advocacy for his work at the national level as an advocate of victim’s rights and protection.

Sheriff Ivey speaks regularly on topics such as Identity Theft, Crime in America, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence, and Self Defense through Mental Preparedness. Sheriff Ivey firmly believes that Crime Prevention and Education are vital to reduce our crime rate and protect our community.

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