Life Saving Incident
August 16, 2020
Ohio
Mahoning County
Youngstown
On August 16, 2020, Youngstown (Ohio) Police officers responded to a call of a man who had been shot in the chest. Officer Casey Kelly arrived and, after recognizing the serious nature of the wound, ran to his car to get his a personal trauma kit he had purchased (with his own money) for emergencies.
As the victims condition worsened and, with no ambulance on the scene, Officer Kelly knew he needed to improvise to control the bleeding. “Getting that ingrained in your head over and over again through all the different types of training, I was able to take the plastic from the gauze wrapper and the family actually provided me with some tape, and I was able to seal up the wound,” Kelly later recounted. Although Kelly and the other officers were ultimately able to stabilize the victim’s bleeding, they opted to drive him to the hospital themselves rather than wait precious minutes longer for paramedics to arrive.
That decision saved the life of the victim.
Chief of Police Robin Lees later commended Kelly for his life-saving actions and talked about how all officers face emergency situations. “The officers are confronted with these chaotic situations on a regular basis, and frankly, it surprises me every day how well they handle it,” said Chief Lees.
The history of law enforcement in the United States is a long and wonderful history of bravery. This website is dedicated to documenting the heroic deeds of law enforcement officers throughout the United States who have either given or risked their lives to save others. There are many stories of bravery and heroism for many who are considered first responders. However, it is those in law enforcement who are most likely to be the first to arrive upon a location requiring life saving acts engaging dangerous hostage takers, running into burning buildings/vehicles, providing first aid to seriously injured victims, saving near drowning victims and much more are what the women and men of law enforcement do routinely and at many times, great peril to their own safety.
It is our mission to document the history of lives saved by those dedicated women and men in law enforcement. To share with others the dramatic deeds of those individuals who are the first, first responders. It is so important for our citizens to understand that law "enforcement" is not always about enforcing the law but rather being there when our citizens need us.
It is to this end we are dedicated to promoting documentation regarding the history of law enforcement and the lives they have saved.
