Bentonville hospital donates 70 trauma kits to local police

State funds for trauma hospitals in Arkansas trickled down to the community level Friday when Northwest Medical Center-Bentonville donated 70 trauma kits to the Bentonville Police Department.

The kits are small and easily carried by officers. They include items to slow or stop bleeding from trauma wounds, said Dr. Jim Holden, an emergency room physician at the hospital. A tourniquet, blood-clotting powder and bandages to seal chest wounds are a few of the items in each of the kits.

The hospital spent about $7,000 on the kits, said Pam Adams, a trauma nurse coordinator at the hospital. She said the funds were from a $150,000 grant the hospital received for being a Level III trauma center.

Adams said the funds are typically spent to advance trauma services offered by the hospital. However, she said hospital officials decided that helping police officers treat trauma victims faster in the field will also benefit patients and the hospital.

"They see the victim first, and whatever they can do to help them first also helps us," Adams said.

The hospital needed permission from the state to use the funds for the Police Department, Adams said. She said Northwest Medical Center officials hope other hospitals in the state will also consider using their funds to advance trauma services in their communities.

Renee Joiner, chief of the Trauma Section at the Arkansas Department of Health, said the state has been awarding trauma grants since 2010. The fiscal year for the grants runs from July 1 to June 30.

Funds used to purchase the trauma kits were from the 2014 fiscal year, which ended June 30, Adams said. She said the hospital has not decided how to use the 2015 funds.

Trauma centers are ranked by their ability to treat trauma patients, Joiner said. The levels go from I to IV, with I being the top rank in trauma care. Level I hospitals received more than $1 million for the 2015 fiscal year, Level II hospitals received $522,694, Level III hospitals received $130,674 and Level IV hospitals received $26,135.

There are 69 trauma center hospitals in the state, Joiner said.

The funds can be used on anything that advances or maintains trauma services in the community, Joiner said. She said this could include hospital salaries, training or equipment. Community outreach and collaboration with community partners are other ways that hospitals can spend the money, Joiner said.

"They are able to look at their budget and decide if they need the funds in the center or provide some of those funds for community outreach," Joiner said.

Jeremy Barclay, Northwest Medical Center's chief operating officer, said the hospital wants to work with community partners to provide trauma care.

"We have similar missions," Barclay said. "Aligning ourselves with other organizations that share the same mission is the right thing to do."

Bentonville Police Chief Jon Simpson said there are a variety of scenarios in which the kits could be used, including helping people with injuries from shootings, car accidents or explosive devices.

"Anything that might result in severe loss of blood," Simpson said.

Simpson said there are times when police officers are the first to a scene. The kits will help them react quickly to injuries before paramedics arrive.

"Without this, you might have to improvise a zip-lock bag or a wrapper for a chest injury," Simpson said.

An open chest injury can cause a lung to collapse quickly, Holden said. He said every time the victim draws a breath, he draws air into the injury. A specialized bandage is needed to seal the wound, he said.

"There are documented cases where police officers have saved their own lives with these kits," Simpson said.

The Bentonville Police Department has 67 sworn officers, Simpson said. He said the officers recently went through training teaching them how to use the items in the kit during trauma situations.

Bentonville ...

NW News on 07/12/2014

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