Trauma kits now in all classrooms at Harlem schools

By Bob Balgemann

Reporter

MACHESNEY PARK – Trauma kits are heading for a classroom near you. Actually, the goal is to have them in every classroom in Winnebago County.

So far 621 such kits have been placed in all classrooms in Harlem School District 122, as well as in Hononegah schools.

Basic medical materials in each kit, such as a tourniquet, can be the difference between life and death during a high-trauma incident.

Three nurses working in the Mercy Health System at Janesville, Wis., had been involved in such situations during the Boston, Mass. Marathon bombing and attack in Oklahoma City, Okla.

District 122 nurse Roni Sturm said statistics from such incidents, as well as war, show that tourniquets save lives. “Most injuries aren’t fatal,” she said, but death can occur because of blood loss.

“Tourniquets stop the bleeding and give extra time for EMTs (emergency medical technicians) to arrive” and provide the needed assistance.

The cost of such protection is $3 per kit.

Materials are kept in a simple plastic bag and, beyond the tourniquet, include gloves, bandaging gauze and an Ace bandage.

All of this started last year, when Winnebago County sheriff’s deputy Scott Meyers heard about Mercy utilizing such trauma kits.

He called those officials, obtained the information and suggested that a similar program be instituted locally.

Rock Cut Elementary School Principal Mike Plourde said the sheriff’s office used money seized from illegal drug activity to buy the kits. Training in use of the materials took place late last year at his school and others in the Harlem district.

Initially, Sturm said volunteer firefighters here and in Roscoe-Rockton were trained in use of the kits.

“It’s simple,” she said. The tourniquets themselves are made to let the user “know when it’s tight enough.”

Harlem District 122 officials have thanked the sheriff’s department and Meyers along with the program presentation and training.

“These kits were provided free of charge to the schools, with no charge to taxpayers,” said Julie Morris, superintendent of District 122.

“Through the presentation, our educators have a clearer understanding of what to expect in the event of a traumatic incident and how best to handle the situation, should it occur.”

“While we hope never to need this training, we are empowered with the knowledge that our staff knows what to do should we need it,” she added.

“We appreciate the time and effort of the Winnebago Sheriff’s Department in supporting the safety of our students.”

Introduction of trauma kits to District 122 schools is part of the ongoing effort to make students as safe as possible while in school.