CARLSBAD, Calif. (KGTV) - After seeing multiple mass shootings across the country, a local inventor thinks the trauma treatment kit he supplies to law enforcement agencies should be made available to the public.
Marc Berry runs Officer Survival Solutions. His company specializes in tactical gear for police departments and first responders. He also makes portable, personal trauma kits.
"It's designed to stop an arterial bleed," he says. "And small enough to fit in a pocket."
The kits have medical gauze, a pressure bandage and a tourniquet, along with instructions on how to use them to stop the bleeding from a gunshot wound or other major trauma.
Right now, Berry says he supplies the kits to every law enforcement agency in San Diego County, and nearly 4300 others across the nation.
But he'd like to see them become as common in public as fire extinguishers.
"You can put them in areas with events, you can put them in malls, you can put them in airports," Berry says. "There's no reason the public should not have access to this stuff."
Berry makes a "civilian" model of his kit, which he sells for under $30 to the public. The professional ones he markets to first responders go for about $50.
But making them available isn't about the money. For Berry, a former Las Vegas Police Officer, it's personal.
"My friend and former partner was shot and killed," he told 10News. "Back then there was no critical life saving kits available."
Berry came up with the invention after doing some contract work overseas. He hopes it can help people save lives if they're ever caught in a mass casualty event like the recent shooting in Las Vegas.
"You always hear people say, "I tried to make a tourniquet out of my shirt or out of my belt,'" he says. "If these are in place, you can take them, throw them to someone who's down, someone who's injured and use them to help."
He estimates that about 10 of his kits get used every day, somewhere in the US. He wants people to be ready if they ever need them.
"The shootings, it's not going to stop," he says. "We know that from history. It's not going away. So we need to stop thinking it's not going to happen to me. You need to be prepared. You need to know how to use it and what to do at that type of event."
In addition to selling the personal kits, Berry plans to offer free lifesaving classes. He'll hold the first one on November 4th at his office in Carlsbad (6352 Corte Del Abeto, Suite B). The class runs from 1-2 pm and will teach basic trauma response skills. He wants to have one every Saturday, as long as people are still interested.
To sign up, you can email Marc at support@officesurvivalsolutions.com or call to RSVP at (760) 696-0120. The class is limited to the first 50 people each week.
