SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department is training a group of officers to be EMTs so they can quickly treat victims of shootings, assaults and accidents.
“This summer, particularly, there's been a lot of gunshot wounds, especially downtown where I work. So being able to handle the situation more promptly gives the injured person a much, much greater chance of survival,” said Nick King, an officer and EMT trainee who has been with SPD for four years.
SPD has 53 officers who are trained EMTs. They're training an additional 18 officers.
Police officers traditionally have basic medical skills, but they primarily rely on the fire department to stabilize and revive victims. It's not always safe for paramedics to move into a scene, so it helps to have officers with additional medical experience.
“As a police officer, you could be thirty seconds away as opposed to EMT or fire coming from the station could be eight more minutes, plus more traffic,” King said.
Officer Garth Lindelef became an EMT almost a year ago after he responded to a shooting involving a 14-year old, who later died.
“More than anything I wanted to avoid having to ask that question of ‘did I do enough, could I have done more?’” he said.
The officer EMTs train three times a week for 10 weeks.
The Seattle Police Foundation is now raising money to outfit the class with trauma kits packed with essential tools to help them save lives.
“We're there first, we should be able to handle the situation to the best of our ability,” King said.