HENRIETTA, N.Y. (WROC) — With today being National Save a Life Day, which encourages bystanders to learn and apply steps to help save a life before EMS arrives, the county is making it much more accessible to do so. 

On Thursday, Monroe County Executive Adam Bello was joined by the Monroe County Director of Public Safety and UR Medicine to announce plans to install 60 new “Life Saving Stations” across the county in honor of National Stop the Bleed month.

The purpose of this is to bridge the gap between the time it takes to call 911 and a dispatch to be sent to the scene of an emergency. These boxes will provide equipment and medicine to enable bystanders to help people in the event of a heart attack, those bleeding from an injury, or suffering an overdose in those crucial, fleeting moments. 

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello stated, “What we’re doing is because we know every step counts and we know that, that bystander, that true first responder who’s there to see the emergency happen, we want to make sure that they have the tools available at their fingertips to help save that life before the EMS arrives.” 

Each lifesaving station box will contain an AED (automated external defibrillator with adult and pediatric capabilities, the opioid overdose medication Naloxone for overdoses, a bleeding control trauma kit, and more. 

Monroe County Public Safety Director Richard Tantalo stated, “When a medical call is made to the 911 communication center the tele-communicator can instruct you on how to use these resources in these county lifesaving stations, and they’ll utilize the medical priority dispatch system when answering these 911 medical calls.”

During the conference Adam Bello expressed that these critical, lifesaving skills are fairly easy to learn, and you never know when they’ll become important whether it’s with a family member or a stranger, it really makes all the difference when it comes to saving a life when every minute counts.

All 60 of these lifesaving stations will be installed by the fall throughout the county including at places like the DMV, Innovative Field, the Seneca Park Zoo, MCC, all county golf courses, and more.