North American Rescue joins as a Safety Grant Sponsor with the Spirit of Blue Foundation
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – November 22, 2013 – The Spirit of Blue Foundation announced today that North American Rescue (www.narescue.com) is officially joining as the latest Safety Grant Sponsor. North American Rescue is dedicated to decreasing preventable death by providing the most effective and highest quality mission critical medical products to the military, federal agencies, civilian law enforcement, EMS and pre-hospital life savers. They design, develop and test these products based on the military’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines, Rescue Human Factors® engineering, evidenced based medicine and an in-depth understanding of the requirements from users in the field. North American Rescue also maintains generous support for public charities serving these fields through their Operation Giveback initiative, which the Spirit of Blue will be a part of going forward.
“We are pleased to offer our support to this outstanding organization and join in their efforts to assist Law Enforcement personnel throughout the nation,” stated Brent Bronson, VP of Law Enforcement/EMS/Fed Gov sales. “We are very enthusiastic about the direct support that Spirit of Blue is providing to save lives and look forward to working with them as they continue to reach out to Law Enforcement agencies.”
“This partnership started simply with a quote request for an upcoming grant,” commented Ryan T. Smith, Vice-Chairman for the Spirit of Blue Foundation’s Board who oversees grants and sponsorships. “Once they found out what we were trying to do they quickly connected us with their Operation Giveback team and showed an interested in a deeper relationship going forward. It is impressive to see manufacturers who are so committed to supporting the communities they sell to.”
As a partner, North American Rescue will be supporting the Foundation by supplying discounted pricing on product for grants, cooperative marketing and other support through Operation Giveback. Partnerships with equipment manufacturers are critical to the success of the Spirit of Blue and are also very meaningful to the law enforcement community. Already in partnership with the Spirit of Blue are brands such as A-TACS Camouflage, Blue Force Gear, Magpul Industries and Bushmaster Firearms, in addition to others.
The Spirit of Blue Foundation works nationally to support the Law Enforcement community through the award of Safety Equipment Grants, funded by both private and corporate donations. So far this year the Foundation has awarded Safety Equipment Grants to the Revere (MA) Police Department, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the Winter Springs (FL) Police Department. Seven additional Safety Equipment Grants are in the acceptance process and could be awarded prior to the end of the year.
2013 preliminary statistics released by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reveal the number of U.S. law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty so far this year have totaled 94, a10% percent decrease from the same period in 2012. Firearm-related deaths have reached 28, a decrease of 28% for the same period. While progress is being made, the reality of these statistics and the increasing number of underfunded law enforcement agencies across the country fuel the Spirit of Blue safety grant initiative.
The Spirit of Blue Foundation actively encourages the public at large to honor and appreciate law enforcement officers who serve to protect our communities. By supporting the Spirit of Blue Foundation, the public can make an impact in the lives of law enforcement officers every day. To learn more about the Spirit of Blue, make a donation or to order from a full range of Spirit of Blue products currently available, visit www.spiritofblue.com.