Too many times, police officers in Edmonton have been the first to arrive at a call and find multiple victims with wounds needing medical care.
Emergency medical services (EMS) were enroute, but the victims required immediate, urgent medical care. The problem was, they weren’t equipped with the necessary medical supplies to deal with incidents involving multiple victims suffering from serious injuries.
After one such call, an event with multiple stabbing victims, a patrol officer approached his inspector with an idea— a casualty care bag that contains a multitude of medical supplies that was easily accessible in their patrol vehicles.
“Our members just want to help people, to save people,” says Tom Bechthold, an inspector with the Edmonton Police Service’s northeast division. “We want our members to be well equipped to attend to those victims when they arrive on scene well in advance of EMS.”
Edmonton Police Service (EPS) Detective Han Ho, at left, and EPS Constable Dion Roy, who took the casualty care bag idea to Insp. Tom Bechthold.
Bechthold pitched the idea of casualty care breakout bags—effectively, first-aid backpacks—to the Edmonton Police Foundation, which raises funds from the community to purchase supplies that can’t be covered through the EPS operational budget.
The foundation focuses on three funding pillars—equipment and technology to help police in their work; programs that bridge police and community to foster positive relationships; and community well-being, including officer wellness.
Enbridge has supported the foundation since 2023, with a pair of $10,000 Enbridge Fueling Futures grants to date supporting Operation: Find Santa, a community relationship-building event. For one fun, festive day, Indigenous families in need participate in an elaborate scavenger hunt in West Edmonton Mall hosted by EPS, taking part in activities and amassing gifts along the way in the company of EPS representatives.
“It’s a positive, memorable day for the kids,” says Elisha Jackson, executive director of the foundation. “We hope they grow up remembering that time they got to save Santa with police.”
