LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- In recent years, the Louisville Metro Police Department has responded to an alarming number of violent calls, many of them involving serious injuries or death.
In an effort to save lives, LMPD has launched a new program to provide officers with the medical training that comes along with being an Emergency Medical Technician.
Officer Todd Richardson came up with the idea two years ago when he became a full-time health and safety officer. He called this type of training "rare," adding that he didn't know of any other department in the region that has a similar program.
"I saw the need for additional tactical medical training for our officers," he said. "We are the first on the scene so oftentimes, we have to secure the scene before EMS can get there."
Richardson explained health and safety officers typically respond whenever there is a bloodborne pathogen or some type of exposure. He said those kind of calls have gone down in recent years, but shootings have skyrocketed.
"They're happening all the time," he said. "Currently, I believe our homicide rate would be triple what it is if it wasn't for officers every day putting on chest seals, tourniquets and saving lives."
Richardson said while shootings have gone up, the death rate is going down. He attributes that to more officers administering medical aid on scene before EMS arrives.
LMPD has roughly 20 officers currently trained as EMTs.
The officers who are trained as EMTs are given additional medical equipment to help patients in need, including an automated external defibrillator (AED), an EMT medical bag, oxygen and other essentials.
LMPD officers with EMT training receive special medical equipment to use on calls before EMS arrives. (WDRB Image)
One of those who recently graduated is Officer James Fischer, who said he had already put his skills to use multiple times when responding to calls.
"I take great pride in it," he said. "It's a big responsibility for me because I take this training very seriously. Ultimately, I may use it on myself, I may use it on my partner and most of the time we use it on the public that we serve."
Fischer said his training ran from Dec. 2022 to April 2023, when he learned about things like cardiac issues and shooting injuries. He also spent time riding in an ambulance.
Now when he's on a scene, Fischer said he's able to better communicate with EMS.
"I can give them a better assessment and better understanding of what's going on with this patient, as opposed to another patrol officer who may only be able to say, 'He's shot.' I can give vitals, I can take blood pressure, I can give an assessment of his heart rate," Fischer said.
LMPD Officer James Fischer graduates EMT training. (Image courtesy LMPD)
While both Fischer and Richardson mentioned the rise in shootings, they emphasized the training is also useful for other kinds of calls, like car accidents.
"It's a huge benefit for the public because it's not just for violence, it's for any kind of trauma that occurs to them," said Richardson.
Richardson said the idea isn't to eliminate the need for EMS altogether, but rather to increase a patient's chances of survival.
"This is just to help us and for us to be another part of that process to help someone, for us to keep someone alive long enough for EMS to get them, and EMS to keep them alive long enough to get them to the hospital. It's all just a partnership," he said.
Richardson said he's already received positive feedback from EMS crews on how this new training has improved communication on scenes.
"It's something that makes it better for us when, if I have an officer saying, 'Well EMS didn't do this,' I can explain to them, 'Well that's because they're not allowed to this. They're only allowed to do this, this or this.' To the same token, when we're dealing with EMS, they know what we can do. It just makes for a better relationship for us to work together," explained Richardson.
Richardson is currently the department's only full-time person in such a role. He hopes in the future there will be enough EMTs within LMPD to where their main responsibility would be responding specifically to medical calls.
Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
