School buses stocked with lifesaving kits
By Olivia Tyler
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MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa (KCCI) — All Marshalltown School District buses and vans are now equipped with Stop the Bleed kits, thanks to the Marshall County Public Health Department.
The kits include a tourniquet, pressure bandage, gauze, nitrile gloves, trauma shears, marker and a step-by-step instruction card.
The kits are portable first-aid kits designed to treat injuries from car accidents, stabbings, and even gunshot wounds.
There are 86 bus drivers and assistants in the school district. All of them are getting mandatory training on how to use the kits from Marshall County Emergency Management.
“Our buses are out on the roads, in town, out of town, and come across a lot of things, accidents, and we’re trying to prepare them for any emergency. And we’re fortunate enough to have a great partner in the city and the county,” said Rex Kozak, Transportation Director for Marshalltown School District.
Through grants from the federal government, the county’s public health department received $30,000 to put toward the kits.
“It’s important for our rural counties to have these as well. They transport a lot of kids. They have to travel at least an hour to an hour and a half to a lot of sporting events. So, to have those in the event of an emergency is pertinent,” said Sydney Grewell, Marshall County Public Health Director.
Grewell says they’ll be using the grant money to equip two other school districts in the next few months.
The Marshalltown School District says it hopes it never has to use the kits, but in case it does, now all drivers will be prepared.
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