3 clubs; 10 kits; 12 communities; countless children

It takes only three Kiwanis clubs to serve 12 communities.

The Iowa Kiwanis clubs of Marshalltown, Marshalltown P.M., and Marshalltown-Matins purchased 10 pediatric trauma kits (PTK) to serve all Marshall County children.

The Nebraska-Iowa Kiwanis District Foundation matches clubs’ contributions for the purchase of emergency medical devices for children. Since beginning the project four years ago, the district has given out 574 kits for communities in Nebraska and western Iowa.

“The kits have baby-size, toddler-size, and preteen breathing tubes; tiny blood-pressure cuffs; and oxygen masks of different size,” says Alan Hilleman of the Marshalltown-Matins club. “The first-responder crews were amazed by what all is in the kits.” (For a list of the kit’s contents, click here.)

The clubs worked with Iowa PTK coordinator Byron Tabor to identify which communities’ emergency-response teams qualified for the kits and what types of kits were needed. For departments with transportation capabilities, the kits cost the club US$350, because a backboard is required. For units without transportation vehicles, no backboard is needed; so, the club pays $190.

A first-responder unit, however, must attend training before it receives its kit. Once again, the district and clubs worked together to bring a state Emergency Management Department representative to Marshalltown to teach the correct way to use and maintain the new equipment.