Bartlesville Foundation Helps Provide Life Saving Equipment To Law Enforcement

An Oklahoma non-profit based in Bartlesville is providing life saving equipment to first responders, for free.

The Project Tribute foundation says it has already helped more than a dozen under funded agencies get the gear they need to do their job.

The Project Tribute Foundation recently gave 60 medical kits, equipped with tourniquets, to the Osage County Sheriffs Office. The kits can help save lives and they're something many departments can't afford.

Project Tribute's mission is to give first responders the tools they need to save lives, whether it's police, firefighters or paramedics.

"A lot of agencies are underfunded so they don't have the funds within their city, county or state to get the equipment they need to do their jobs properly. That's where we come in,” said James Wathen with Project Tribute Foundation

Wathen is a full time Bartlesville Police Officer and volunteers during his off time with Project Tribute.

He say when he was in CLEET training to be an officer, he noticed there were officers in small departments across the state making barely above minimum wage, which means those departments also don't have funding for good equipment.

"You see people that don't have the funds and equipment they need to do their jobs properly and also go home at the end of the day to their families, so we saw that need, that guys need help, to get the equipment they need and that's where we stepped in,” said Wathen.

Wathen says they are 100 percent volunteer and agencies can request equipment, like shields, medical kits, fire extinguishers or anything they may need, then Project Tribute will work to get a grant to buy the equipment.

"It is the most humbling thing, because a lot of times if it wasn't for us these guys wouldn't have some of the equipment we provide,” said Wathen.

Wathen says they've already seen the impact of their work, when a stabbing victim was saved using one of the kits.

"We were really blessed to get the 60 kits we got from them and it'll help us probably save several lives in the process,” Osage County Sheriff, Eddie Virden.

The foundation also takes public donations.

If you want to donate, CLICK HERE.