Scottsdale officer leads effort on emergency kits
Jul. 24—Police officers know that seconds count in an emergency and having the tools readily available on hand makes saving the life just that important.
That's why the nonprofit Arizona Law Enforcement Canine Association (ALECA), partnered last week with Circle K at the chain's Tempe headquarters to pack life-saving kits that would "stop the bleed" during emergencies for officers, victims, perpetrators, and K-9 dogs.
Circle K employees volunteered to assemble over 100 life-saving handler trauma kits.
"The kit itself is really meant to stop the bleeding until you get to higher level medical care," explained Tony Sanborn, ALECA president and a Scottsdale police officer.
The kits include tourniquets, gauze, a muzzle, tweezers, and a veterinary kit, which includes diphenhydramine if the dog reacts to a snake bite, as well as Narcan that reduces the chance of death in drug overdoses.
"We made the kit flat and vacuum sealed that we stick it up underneath the vest where they forget it's even there until they need it," said Sanborn. "So that kit is not sitting in the passenger seat of the car as a nuisance while they're two blocks away from their vehicle."
Circle K reached out to the ALECA six years ago to be a contributing partner in their mission of Train, Educate, Equip, and Support (TEES).
Training is number one as ALECA "takes most of our dollars and put it towards high-end training for officers to improve their abilities to work with their dogs in the street, hence improving policing and relationships with the public," said Sanborn.
ALECA also provides opportunities for the public to come out and see how the dogs operate during situations.
When it comes supporting their mission, Sanborn said, "It's these medical kits, bulletproof vests for the dogs, heat alarms — it's everything that any agency in the state might need will find the funding for as long as it falls in line with our mission to protect and save the police officers and their dogs. We'll find the money for it."
ALECA came to Circle K with a proposal to make the kits five years ago, and every year, Circle K employees come out and build them.
The kits also are for the dogs.
Sanborn recalled a harrowing experience when one of his canines was shot in the stomach.
"I had to run back to the car to get our trauma equipment," he said. "He lost 75% of the total blood volume but made a full recovery when we stopped the bleeding."
From that point on, he made it his mission to make kits that were flat and always with them.
Currently, over 700 kits have been distributed across the state.
When it comes to deploying these kits, the main challenge is replacing expired kits and being able to reach every department that has a canine unit in the state. "We don't just hand them the kit," said Sanborn. The officers must attend training where they are put on reality-based scenarios with a medical component. They have experts in the field of trauma and will show them how to use the kits properly. "We don't always see every agency at every training, but we find ways to distribute those kits to those groups.
The next training seminar is on July 23 at 5 pm and will take place at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, which is open and free for the public to attend. "All 80 of those teams will be issued one of these kits, and then we'll distribute the remainder to all the other officers who were in attendance," said Sanborn.
For more information and ways to donate, visit alecapolicek9.com.
