TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - The Tucson Police Department is using a grant-funded program to put life-saving tools in the hands of their officers. In a Facebook poston the department's page, TPD writes about how one of their "challenges is to treat injured victims in a timely manner."
in 2014, the department began obtaining Individual First Aid Kits (IFAKs). Then, Tucson Police SWAT medics trained officers on how to use the items inside to help aid trauma victims in active crime scenes. This way they can help stop blood loss and give treatment before emergency medics can get to the area.
The department says they have seen a significant decrease in the number of homicides since the IFAKs have been handed out, which they credit - "in part, to the lifesaving impact of early medical treatment."
The department says they used the IFAK 65 times in 2014. That number increased to 88 in 2015. Already in 2017, the department has used the IFAK program 7 times.
