Members of the community had the opportunity to receive their Stop the Bleed certificate.
The event took place Sept. 18 at the Veteran’s Memorial Building at City Park.
“You never know when you’re going to be called upon to render aid to someone else. This is training that can be used in multiple situations. I’m thankful that our local law enforcement and firefighters put this training together,” said Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg. “These are all folks that are part of the Wood County Response Team. A few years back, I was with a local trooper on State Route 25 when someone pulled a gun out. You never know when you are going to need this training.”
Law enforcement officers and agencies are frequently requested by schools, businesses, and community members for direction and presentations on what they should do if confronted with an active shooter event.
Members of the Wood County Sheriff’s Office Special Response team presented the Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events (CRASE), designed and built on the avoid, deny and defend strategy.
Avoid | Deny | Defend has been developed as an easy-to-remember method for individuals to follow. During the Stop The Bleed portion of the training, medics demonstrated how to identify life-threatening bleeding, how to control it, and how to apply direct pressure techniques, tourniquets, and hemostatic gauze.
“Our goal is to empower the community. If we can give back in any way, shape or form with what we’re given, that’s the goal. We want to continue to do this and educate everyone we can on what they can do in a critical incident,” said Det. Sgt. Ryan Richards, assistant SWAT commander with the Wood County Sheriff’s Office. “This training covers multiple angles in someone’s life,” including an active shooter event, domestic violence, or car crash. “Hopefully, we’ll have another training within six months up in Perrysburg.”
Given the continued active shooter/active attack incidents globally, it’s crucial to be ready, according to the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (cisa.gov). This training is available to all encompassing schools, colleges, businesses, hospitals, and places of worship and is for individuals 18 years and older.
“I appreciate that they talked about the importance of training, remaining calm, and having a plan. I wanted to come and show my appreciation for these law enforcement, firefighters, and paramedics that are putting this training on,” Ghanbari said. “It’s always good to have a refresher. It’s not just about lessons learned locally but also the lessons learned for our first responders across the country.”
