These stations provide bystanders and initial first responders with quick and easy access to essential medical equipment to stop life-threatening bleeding in public buildings and populated areas. Each of the Bleeding Control Stations donated to the District are valued at $885.

“On behalf of the students and staff in District 124, I would like to thank the Evergreen Park Fire Department, and especially Chief Kleinhaus, for this generous donation,” EPSD 124 Superintendent Dr. Robert Machak said. “I am extremely grateful for this donation, which supports the District Crisis Plan and could literally mean the difference between life and death in a school emergency. The Evergreen Park Fire Department has been such a great partner with us in ensuring the safety of our community; I appreciate these kits very much, even though I hope we never have to use them."

Meeting with Machak earlier this summer, Evergreen Park Fire Department Chief Ronald L. Kleinhaus explained that the department had co-authored a grant request through Region VII Healthcare Coalition, and requested funding for 80 "bleeding control stations", which are essentially durable plastic boxes that contain emergency medical supplies such as gauze, scissors, tape, bandages, and tourniquets.

Besides the D124 schools, the Fire Department has offered these kits to Evergreen Park High School and all parochial schools within the village as well.

"It is not physically possible for individual responders to carry all the equipment and supplies they might need to an [emergency] event," Chief Kleinhaus explained. By placing a fully-stocked station in an easily accessible area in each school office, Kleinhaus said, first responders have a better chance of having all the supplies they might need on hand. Chief Kleinhaus further explained that the idea to pursue these stations arose out of joint training sessions with the police and fire departments from other municipalities.

The District’s Bleeding Control Stations will be placed in the main offices at each D124 school. Chief Kleinhaus and the Evergreen Park Fire Department were recognized formally by the D124 Board of Education at its August 16 meeting. Chief Kleinhaus received a standing ovation from those in the audience when he was introduced.