By EMS1 Staff
CLEVELAND — A group of civilians are doing their part to save lives in a gun violence-heavy community by learning how to treat gunshot wounds before responders arrive.
News5 reported that the Wolfpack Gunshot Response Team hopes to help save lives in a community that sees a lot of gun violence by quickly treating traumatic injuries on the streets.
One of the members, Deondrae Glover, was inspired to help after he and his brother were innocent bystanders in a crossfire that resulted in both of them getting shot.
“It was a feeling you’ll never forget,” Glover said. “That was another big deal about why I wanted to participate.”
The group now patrols the area around where the incident occurred and is trained on how to treat traumatic injuries, but said they focus on gunshot wounds because they happen so often.
“It’s truly not our fault, it’s just where we were born and raised,” Glover said. “A lot of us are innocent.”
University Hospitals EMS Supervisor Justin Magill is helping to train Glover and another member, Terrance Hubbard, through a “Stop the Bleed” campaign, and he said their help is “pretty powerful.”
“It’s only a few minutes and then someone can actually lose all the blood in their body,” Magill said. “Somebody gets shot, somebody right there can stop the wound by the time the ambulance comes, that’s pretty powerful I think.”
The team also hopes to inspire younger community members to learn “a sort of civil responsibility.”
“If it was up to us, I’m pretty sure everyone would choose a better life,” Glover said. “But it wasn’t up to us. We’re just trying to deal with it the best way we can and help the next person.”
A GoFundMe was created to help support the team. Click here to donate.
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