DONATION OF 250 EMERGENCY BANDAGES EVOKES SHOOTING OF REP. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

HOUSTON – The Harris County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) will accept 250 emergency bandages, known as “Israeli bandages,” from Houston-based PerSys Medical on Tuesday.

HCSO deputies will be trained on the application of the life-saving devices. The same type of bandages was instrumental in savings the lives of some of the 14 people wounded in the Arizona shooting last year in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was a victim. Six others died from the gunshots.

The bandages were developed in the 1990s in Israel, which Sheriff Adrian Garcia visited in November 2010 for a conference on homeland security and anti-terrorism technology. The HCSO is the lead law enforcement agency for protecting the Houston Ship Channel and its security assets such as refineries and petrochemical plants.

Coincidentally, Giffords had renewed her faith as a Jew during a trip to Israel in 2001, according to the JTA news agency.

HCSO patrol deputies carry the bandages as part of their first-aid kits. The donation ensures that more HCSO deputies, including homicide and narcotics investigators, will have the appropriate equipment to save lives in case of traumatic events.

U.S. armed forces have made Israel bandages part of its standard equipment. Each bandage contains a built-in pressure applicator to control bleeding, taking the place of multiple, more conventional bandages that were used to wrap head wounds, according to the JTA.

The news agency said it was unclear whether Giffords was one of the victims on whom the bandages were used in the mass shooting. Doctors said the bandages saved victims’ lives then.

About PerSys Medical
PerSys Medical markets and distributes a variety of specialized medical and emergency medical products to military, law enforcement, homeland security, EMS, and wilderness medicine agencies as well as worldwide government agencies. For more information, please visit www.ps-med.com.

WHO:  HCSO and PerSys Medical officials

WHAT:   Donation of emergency bandages

WHEN:   Tuesday, October 11, 2011      
10 a.m.

WHERE:  HCSO Academy
2316 Atascocita Rd.
Humble, TX