Hospital donates medical emergency supply packs to Ohio police

The Avon Lake Police Department is ready for emergencies after the Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital delivered 20 first aid “go bags” to be stocked in police cruisers.

The Ohio agency initially reached out to Greg Laborie, EMS coordinator at Avon Hospital and paramedic with the Ridgeville Fire Department, for medical supplies for 12 to 15 police cars.

“This was a first time for me for this request. They asked for any supplies they could use for medical emergencies, as many times they are the first ones to reach the patient,” Laborie said, referring to events such as cardiac arrests or car crashes where police are often the initial responders on the scene.

Laborie said that the effort was a collaboration between the hospital and law enforcement to help the community. They ultimately decided to provide go bags containing bandages, Quick Clot and other first aid supplies to the police department.

“We saw that any way to reach out and assist the police would be a good opportunity to assist our citizens. I was immediately all in for the request, but [Cleveland Clinic Sgt.] Shannon Darby spearheaded the whole thing. We discussed law enforcement needs in the field and she told me about the ‘go’ bag. I realized it would be the perfect thing,” he said.

The concept of the go bags is based on the decade-long U.S. Department of Homeland Security initiative “Stop the Bleed,” which has been training people nationwide to care for “traumatically injured” individuals and provides pre-assembled kits like the ones used in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars and post-9/11.

Laborie said that through the initiative, “people have been trained all across the country, including lay people, for people traumatically injured… [The bags] can be applied to one’s self or to someone else who is wounded.”

Not only did the hospital donate bags with medical supplies, but it also gave the police department two automated defibrillators from the Community West Foundation in Westlake.

Laborie praised the clinic’s work. “The clinic is all about doing whatever they can do for the community,” he said. “This was something we could do to assist our brothers and sisters in Avon Lake. The tools will be used to help the citizens, and that meets the goal of the Cleveland Clinic to be of help to the community.”