Emergency Trauma Kits

As an added measure of safety at the University of Houston-Downtown, emergency trauma kits have been installed in high traffic areas of campus. 

According to UHD’s Director of Emergency Management Cynthia Vargas, more than 30 kits have been placed near the elevators in all campus buildings. She said the emergency stations should only be used in the event of accidents or crisis situations when major bleeding has occurred. 

“When I arrived at UHD in September 2018, I noticed we did not have these stations as a resource in place,” Vargas said. “As a result, Emergency Management and the UHD Police Department (UHDPD) created a plan to purchase trauma control stations and provide training to the campus community. What we want people to know is that these kits are for major emergencies only and when used they should call 911 immediately.” 

Vargas noted that several trainings on the use of the trauma kits will be offered this year and will be communicated through email and the UHD website calendar. 

“When we offer hands-on training on campus, please sign up for a class,” she said. “It only takes about 30 minutes to learn to use these kits. We hope that you will never need to use a tourniquet or a trauma kit, but if you are ever in that situation, you will know what to do.” 

Each emergency station contains eight trauma packs that contain a tourniquet, disposable gloves, scissors, packages of compressed gauze, and a pressure dressing known as an Olaes Bandage. 

The importance of the trauma kits and their use are also emphasized during active shooter trainings that are hosted several times during the fall and spring semesters by UHDPD. The sessions are open to UHD students, faculty and staff. 

“Active shootings on college and university campuses are a real threat that we are faced with across the nation,” UHDPD Interim Chief of Police Casey J. Davis said. “We hope that an active shooting incident or another critical incident does not occur on our campus, but to ensure that our campus community is prepared, we provide resources and training so that everyone will know what to do in an emergency.”

Vargas said the installation of more trauma kit stations will be added throughout campus buildings in the coming months. 

“Emergency Management monitors for ways to improve campus safety,” she said. “Planning for potential threats to the Uuniversity community is one of Emergency Management’s primary responsibilities.”