Owensboro Police Department received a $7,736 grant from Spirit of Blue Foundation on Monday. This grant will provide the department with 110 tourniquets for its officers.
“That’s going to improve safety — not only for the men and women in blue — but also the public, because we’re able to have a streamlined version of a tourniquet carried on their gun belt,” said OPD Chief Deputy Jeff Speed. “It’s going to help protect the lives of the officers and our community.”
Each OPD officer will now have a tourniquet with them at all times. The device is placed inside a holding case and can be easily removed from the officer’s gun belt when needed. The retail value for each tourniquet is about $70.
“In today’s trying times, when budgets are difficult, we try to get all the tools we need,” Speed said. “It’s just a wonderful resource to be able to have this organization come in and improve the safety of our officers on the street.”
Spirit of Blue is a nonprofit that works to enhance police officer safety across the country by awarding safety equipment and training grants. Since 2011, Spirit of Blue has awarded 112 grants in 40 states valued at over $646,000. Eight years ago, Smith said they only had a few thousand dollars in grant money to give out. They are projected to see their largest granting year ever in 2019 at $200,000.
“This is the 10th grant we’ve done in the state of Kentucky since 2011,” said Spirit of Blue Executive Director Ryan T. Smith. “This is a very deserving agency.”
The Spirit of Blue offers tourniquets to police departments so that officers have fast, easy access to life-saving equipment. Officers can save their own lives if they suffer a traumatic injury on the job and, since law enforcement is often the first person at the scene of an accident or crime, they can assist members of the community with a tourniquet as well.
“They can render aid to themselves on the job,” Smith said. “We have a lifetime replacement policy, so if any of these are used in the line of duty, we will replace them so that the officer won’t be without a tourniquet.”
Spirit of Blue Foundation granted Kentucky State Police with 1,000 tourniquets last year, Smith said.
“It’s resulted in two saves already,” he said. “Last March, there was a teenager hit by a train just north of Lexington. He had significant damage to his leg and was able to be stabilized with a tourniquet we’d granted.”
The first officer was saved with a Spirit of Blue tourniquet on June 11 in Perry County, Smith added.
“The state trooper was shot in the thigh while executing a drug warrant and was stabilized with the tourniquet,” he said.
Smith said he prays OPD will never have to use their tourniquets, but his foundation’s mission is to ensure officer safety by providing departments with much-needed life-saving equipment.
