Newark City Schools are the first district in the U.S. to purchase a new local system to help civilians treat injuries resulting from school shootings.
Westerville-based citizenAID makes trauma kits and training so everyday people are equipped to handle injuries when violent incidents occur.
Bob Otter, a longtime firefighter and EMT for the Granville Township Fire Department, says the trauma kits include full-instruction cards and pocket guides.
“Each one of the trauma treatment kits has a tourniquet, a wound pressure dressing, gauze, which is used to pack a wound such as a bullet hole or stab wound so you can hold internal pressure, a pair of trauma scissors that can cut away clothing to get to it, a pair of nitrile gloves to protect the public from blood-born pathogens, emergency blankets, multiple anti-septic towelettes in case you do get blood on your skin, a black Sharpie marker for marking tourniquet time,” Otter says.
He hopes more schools will make the investment.
“We also have online education that's designed in Newark's case specifically for teachers," he says. "We have a class for ESAC that's for educators, school administrators and coaches. It's a 45-minute online class that's very video intensive.”
Newark City Schools are spending around $15,000 dollars to place 500 of the citizenAID kits in its 11 buildings by the fall.
“The teachers are just now starting to get their training, then the equipment will be in place within probably the next couple of weeks, at least the first phase of it,” Otter says.
About 600 teachers and staff members will complete online training for treating gunshot wounds and other trauma.
Earlier this month, an 8th grader at Liberty Middle School was arrested by Newark Police for threatening to shoot other students.
