Ocean City new stop the bleed kits

OCEAN CITY, Md. – In a significant boost to public safety, the Ocean City Paramedics Foundation, in collaboration with the Ocean City Fire Department, has purchased ten additional Stop the Bleed kits for the Ocean City Beach Patrol. This initiative follows a recent life-saving event on July 7, 2024, when a Beach Patrol employee used a Stop the Bleed kit to save a surfer who suffered a severe, life-threatening laceration from a surfboard skeg at the beach near 38th Street.

During the incident, the quick actions of the Beach Patrol played a critical role in controlling the severe bleeding, which allowed OCFD paramedics to provide advanced medical treatment and prepare for a medevac by Maryland State Police Trooper 4. The Ocean City Beach Patrol’s readiness and the enhanced safety measures through the new Stop the Bleed kits underscore the Paramedic Foundation’s commitment to protecting lives and ensuring swift, effective emergency response jointly with the OCFD.  

As the Ocean City Beach Patrol has expanded its operations, being fully staffed this summer, their need for equipment like these kits has also expanded.

“The original number of kits no longer outfitted what we needed. So this second set basically doubled the number of Stop the Bleed kids that we had available, so now deploying those, we have a greater coverage of Stop the Bleed kids out with our personnel,” said OC Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin.

On the partnership between Ocean City EMS and the Beach Patrol, Captain Arbin said, “Having these outside agencies come together and support us in this way really is beneficial. The partnership goes both ways. We help with training them. We prepare our victims, prepare our patients for them, and in turn they help cross-train us.”