Helping Put First Aid Kits In Schools

     My name is Sam.  I am a Father, Husband, and US Army Veteran.  I love my family with all my heart and would never want to see a day where I would have to lay any of my children to rest before me.


     With all the light being shed on the recent tragedies in schools around the United States, and copycat threats in local schools in my area, I have been working with prominent figures in my community to address some gaps in regards to responding to emergencies within the immediate school campuses.  Upon talking to several people from the community and law enforcement spectrum, I have learned that the resources or equipment that would allow teachers, staff and students to save lives immediately, in case of emergency are limited if non-existent.


     I have created a tentative kit from my experience in the military with the basic necessities to stop major hemorrhaging (bleeding).  The equipment in the envisioned kit would require minimal training but would provide enough effectiveness to potentially save the life or lives of whoever would need items in this kit.  This particular kit would also be designed for the rough and tumble lifestyles of kids and teens out here in the rural communities while they're running, hiking, and hunting.


     I call this kit the Emergency Medical and Life-saving Equipment kit. E.M.L.E. Kit. (pronounced Emily Kit for short)


     The contents of the EMLE kit would be a simple “bare-bones bleeder kit” or kit designed specifically stop bleeding and stop it fast under exigent circumstances and still be of quality, tested and durable items currently on the market.



BUT SAM!!!  DON'T KITS LIKE THESE ALREADY EXIST?:


     Yes.  There are similar kits out on the market now through various companies, the challenge, however, is finding the funding for the rural cities and communities which do not have as much resources or money to allocate to get the right equipment and training to the schools.  Most of these types of equipment and training have to be provided via Grants and generally Grants will only provide a minimal or "cost effective" amount of resources.


BUT WHY WOULD SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS NEED SO MANY EMLE KITS?


     As of right now some Grants are providing 1 kit per elementary school and 3 kits per high school.  Each wall mounted control kit contains 8 personal “stop the bleed” kits.  Each single personal kit is design to save 1 life.   To put this in perspective for my fellow parents, Adam Lanza killed 26 people in an elementary school, 20 of which were children.   Our elementary schools are resourced to save about 8 lives.  Our high schools are equipped to potentially save 24 students.  Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students.  The shooter at Virginia Tech killed 32 students.  We do not have enough equipment to adequately respond DURING an active shooter.  Our kids, teachers and staff have to rely on 1 control kit placed in a single central location or 3 control kits placed in specific spots around the campuses.  Having and EMLE kit for each classroom at the very least or at most one kit per student, is imperative to responding to the unfortunate reality of attempting to save a life DURING an active shooter situation.


     Join me and help fund my campaign to equip local rural schools with the right equipment to give our kids a chance at surviving potential tragedies as we have been witnessing around the Nation.  Your donation may literally be the difference for our future.