Before We Go Further

If you haven’t already done so, you may wish to read my two earlier articles on improving emergency preparedness and police response systems first:

Tourniquets for Police: A Small Change That Could Save Lives

When the Police Arrive Before the Ambulance

From Police to the Wider Community

In them, I argued that in countries where ambulance services are limited, selected police officers could be trained and equipped to provide a small number of lifesaving interventions before medical help arrives.

But police are only one part of the picture.

Governments in countries with limited emergency medical services should consider a broader question:

Where else should lifesaving equipment and trained people be available?

Stadiums. Airports. Large public events. Universities. Shopping malls. Office towers. Large residential compounds. Major places of worship. Wedding halls. Gyms.

What Should Be Available?

Depending on local risks and medical guidance, appropriate equipment might include automated external defibrillators (AEDs), tourniquets, pressure dressings and gauze, chest seals, naloxone, and other basic emergency supplies.

My earlier article, When the Police Arrive Before the Ambulance, briefly explains what each of these is, what it does, and the kinds of emergencies in which it may be useful.

Equipment Is Not Enough

Equipment alone, however, is not enough.

Governments could develop laws, regulations and licensing standards governing where such equipment should be required, who may use it, how people should be trained, how equipment should be maintained, and how these systems connect with hospitals and emergency services.

The requirements need not be identical everywhere.

An airport does not have the same risk profile as an apartment complex. A university does not have the same needs as a wedding hall. Naloxone may be important in one jurisdiction and far less relevant in another.

Local medical and emergency-response professionals should determine what is appropriate.

Where maintaining trained staff permanently on-site is impractical, regulations could require appropriately trained personnel to be hired for particular events, such as large public gatherings, weddings, conferences, or major religious gatherings.

The objective is not to turn security guards, gym employees or event workers into paramedics.

It is to improve the chances that when someone collapses, stops breathing, suffers catastrophic bleeding or experiences another time-critical emergency, the first few minutes are not simply lost.

A Layered Emergency-Preparedness System

Over time, something larger begins to emerge.

Selected police officers are trained and equipped.

Key private and nonprofit institutions have appropriate emergency equipment.

Large gatherings have trained personnel available.

Standards exist for training, maintenance and oversight.

A city gradually develops a layered emergency-preparedness system.

Beyond Saving Lives

The immediate benefit is a greater chance of saving lives and better managing injuries before professional medical care becomes available.

But there may be wider benefits too.

Visible emergency preparedness can strengthen public confidence, improve perceptions of institutional competence and contribute, at the margins, to making cities and countries more attractive places to visit, work, invest and live.

This is not a substitute for building reliable ambulance and emergency medical services.

It is one step toward them.

The Next Step

Once these individual pieces begin connecting, an even larger possibility appears.

That is where I will go in my next article.

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Thank you for reading.

Towards a safer, healthier and better-prepared world.

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AI disclosure:

The ideas, framing and arguments are my own.

I use a paid, advanced frontier AI model to help develop, check and polish my work through multiple iterations.

I review, edit and approve the final article.

The accompanying image was developed similarly.

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In my previous article, I proposed equipping selected police officers with tourniquets.

That raises a larger question: what other simple lifesaving interventions could police provide when they arrive before an ambulance?

Shootings, stabbings, motorcycle crashes, cardiac arrests, and other medical emergencies occur every day around the world.

But in many countries, especially across parts of Asia, Africa, and South America, the ambulance may not arrive quickly.

In some places, organized ambulance services are limited. In others, traffic, distance, resources, or sheer demand can make emergency medical response difficult.

Yet many of these same countries have a substantial police presence.

Police officers are distributed throughout cities and towns. Many patrol on motorcycles, allowing them to move through congested streets and potentially reach an emergency within minutes.

What if selected officers were trained and equipped not merely to enforce the law, but to keep someone alive until they could reach a hospital?

Four Tools That Could Save Lives

A carefully designed police first-response kit might include an automated external defibrillator (AED), chest seals, pressure dressings and bleeding-control equipment, tourniquets, and naloxone where opioid overdose is a significant local problem.

Much of this equipment is remarkably compact. Even an AED designed for mobile use can be relatively small. A carefully designed lifesaving kit could potentially fit into the storage box of a police motorcycle or easily into a patrol vehicle.

None of this means turning police officers into paramedics.

It means identifying a small number of interventions that properly trained officers could safely perform during the critical minutes before professional medical care becomes available.

AEDs

Some years ago, I saw a video of a prominent businessman in his sixties lying on the floor at a public gathering. He was still alive. People surrounded him, clearly wanting to help, but apparently unsure what to do.

It was later reported that he died following a heart attack.

I do not know whether an AED would have saved him. A heart attack and cardiac arrest are not the same thing.

But the scene stayed with me.

I once heard a prominent Western professor, then in his eighties, describe collapsing from cardiac arrest on a university campus when he was in his sixties.

Students responded. An AED was available. His heart was successfully defibrillated.

He survived and continued teaching for years.

That is the power of having the right equipment, in the right place, with people who know how to use it.

If someone suffers a shockable cardiac arrest, rapid CPR and defibrillation with an AED can sometimes mean the difference between life and death.

Chest Seals

A penetrating chest injury can create another rapidly developing emergency.

If air enters the space between the lung and chest wall, the lung can partially or completely collapse. In some cases, pressure can continue building inside the chest and become life-threatening.

An appropriate chest seal, used by someone properly trained and operating under a medically approved protocol, may help manage certain open chest wounds while the injured person is transported for definitive medical treatment.

Stopping Severe Bleeding

A person with catastrophic bleeding can deteriorate extraordinarily quickly.

This is where tourniquets, wound packing, pressure dressings, and other bleeding-control equipment can matter.

A trained responder who recognizes life-threatening bleeding and intervenes correctly may buy the victim something enormously valuable:

time.

Time to reach a surgeon.

Time to receive blood.

Time to survive.

Naloxone

Where opioid overdoses are common, naloxone could be another valuable tool.

Opioids such as fentanyl can suppress breathing until a person becomes unconscious and dies. Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose, potentially restoring breathing long enough for the person to receive further medical care.

Naloxone is also remarkably compact. Where the local risk justifies carrying it, it could occupy very little space in a first-response kit.

Start Small, Then Measure

Countries with limited ambulance coverage could begin experimentally.

Equip selected police motorcycles and patrol vehicles with compact lifesaving kits. Train selected officers. Establish protocols with emergency physicians.

Then measure what happens.

How quickly did officers arrive? How often was the equipment used? Were there complications? Most importantly, did the interventions improve survival?

If the evidence supports the program, improve it and expand it.

Funding could begin with central or national governments, supplemented by state, provincial, territorial, or local governments according to each country’s governmental structure.

Eventually, there could be multiple trained first-response teams on every shift at every major police station across the nation.

Where the Idea Came From

There is already real-world experience behind this approach.

A retired U.S. based EMS leader and longtime paramedic read my earlier article about equipping police officers with tourniquets. In a comment on my LinkedIn post, she pointed out that the idea could go much further.

Her police department carries AEDs, naloxone, tourniquets, and chest seals, and she noted that these tools have been used over the years to save lives.

Her comment prompted me to explore the idea further.

I thought the broader concept was excellent. If these interventions are already saving lives in some communities, could similar models be adapted for countries where ambulance services are much more limited?

Her comment sparked this follow-up article.

A Cross-Pollination of Ideas

I was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. I have lived in Toronto, Canada, for decades and spent about half a decade in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. I have worked professionally in the security industry in Canada and have also trained and worked as a preacher. I remain in regular contact with people and events across these regions.

My mind naturally studies, analyzes, and cross-pollinates experiences and ideas from different societies.

Something that works in Toronto or the United States may not transfer directly to Hyderabad, Riyadh, Nairobi, Dhaka, or Lagos.

But many underlying ideas might.

The Police First Responder

The police officer who arrives first would still be a police officer.

But for a bleeding motorcyclist, a stabbing victim, a person in cardiac arrest, or someone dying from an overdose, that officer might also become something else for a few crucial minutes: the person who keeps them alive long enough to reach the hospital.

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I first learned about the value of tourniquets by occasionally listening to podcasts featuring members of a nation’s special forces.

One idea stayed with me.

A simple piece of equipment, weighing only a few hundred grams and costing relatively little, can stop catastrophic bleeding and save a life within minutes.

That prompted me to think about policing.

Part of the reason is personal.

My childhood classmate, cricket teammate, and friend, is now the Director General of Police (Head of Police) of a state in India.

Knowing someone who has devoted his career to policing naturally leads me to think about practical ideas that might help officers serve the public even more effectively.

Every police service in the world could consider whether similar policies would benefit both officers and the communities they serve.

Police Often Arrive Before Ambulances

Every day, police officers are dispatched to:

• road traffic collisions;

• stabbings;

• industrial accidents;

• railway incidents;

• violent assaults;

• disasters;

• and other emergencies.

Very often, they arrive before paramedics.

When someone has catastrophic bleeding from an arm or leg, every minute matters.

A properly applied commercial tourniquet can stop that bleeding long enough for the victim to reach hospital.

That is why many military organizations, emergency medical services, and an increasing number of civilian police agencies train officers to use them.

A Growing Number of Police Services Are Already Moving Forward

Police have invested significantly in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first-aid training.

Teaching catastrophic bleeding control would be a natural extension of that work.

CPR saves lives when the heart stops.

Tourniquets save lives when blood leaves the body.

Both are part of preserving life.

Start With Selected Officers

Rather than immediately issuing tourniquets to every police officer, a phased approach may be more practical.

Each police station could identify a number of officers to receive advanced bleeding-control training.

Those officers would carry commercial tourniquets while on duty and could respond whenever serious injuries are reported.

As experience grows, the programme could gradually expand to include more frontline personnel.

This approach keeps costs manageable, simplifies training, and allows procedures to be refined before wider implementation.

Benefits Beyond Saving Lives

The most obvious benefit is saving victims who would otherwise bleed to death before reaching hospital.

But there are others.

Police could save fellow officers injured in the line of duty.

They could help firefighters, municipal workers, accident victims, suspects, protesters, and ordinary members of the public.

Just as importantly, programmes like this change how the public sees policing.

People remember the officer who saved a life.

They remember compassion, professionalism, and competence.

Every successful rescue strengthens public confidence in policing.

Trust is built one interaction at a time.

Legitimate Concerns

Some readers will immediately think about police corruption, excessive force, and custodial violence.

Those concerns are legitimate and should never be dismissed.

Any equipment issued to police has the potential to be misused.

However, the answer is not to withhold lifesaving equipment.

The answer is to introduce it responsibly.

Every use of a tourniquet should be documented.

Medical staff should confirm whether its application was appropriate.

Whenever it is used on someone in police custody or during a police use-of-force incident, additional review should automatically occur.

Transparency protects both the public and honest police officers.

Training Matters More Than Equipment

Buying tourniquets alone achieves very little.

Officers must learn:

• when a tourniquet is appropriate;

• when direct pressure is sufficient;

• how to apply it correctly;

• how to recognise shock;

• and how to transfer care safely to paramedics.

These are practical skills that require hands-on training and regular refresher exercises.

A Model Worth Considering Worldwide

The idea is universal.

Every police service should ask a simple question:

If our officers are often first on scene, should they have the training and equipment to save someone from bleeding to death?

Many agencies have already answered yes.

Others may wish to consider doing the same.

Conclusion

Modern policing is about far more than enforcing the law.

It is also about protecting life.

Equipping selected police officers with commercial tourniquets, supported by practical training, clear procedures, medical oversight, and strong accountability, would be a relatively inexpensive reform with the potential to save many lives.

Sometimes, the most meaningful improvements are not the most expensive or the most technologically advanced.

Sometimes they are simply the right tool, in the right hands, at the right time.

If you found this idea worthwhile, please share it.

It may help save a life.

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Religion runs on imagination and a leap of faith.

Narcissists exploit both.

Faith asks us:

To trust what we cannot see.

To believe that reality extends beyond scientific proof.

To surrender some certainty before revelation.

These human capacities can be hijacked by narcissistic parents, extended-family authorities, cult personalities, and religious leaders.

They wrap isolation, domination, and coercive control in sacred language.

Born Inside the Trap

Children born into religious narcissistic systems do not enter the trap.

They wake up inside it.

The child has no outside map.

No independent language.

No way to separate God from the person claiming to speak for Him.

Systematic gaslighting is presented as a natural extension of faith.

Narcissist-induced isolation is described as protection of the path to Paradise.

Silent endurance of abuse is equated with reward-worthy religious suffering.

Subjugation to the narcissist is framed as obedience to God’s wishes.

The victim’s capacity to trust the unseen becomes the very instrument used to gaslight and control them.

The Colonization of Reality

The narcissist does not merely control behaviour.

They colonize the victim’s reality.

They define what happened, even when it did not happen.

What was said.

What is true.

What is false.

Who is dangerous.

Who may be trusted.

What God wants.

What obedience requires.

In a narcissist-controlled family, the victim’s world steadily shrinks.

The family becomes the only safe place.

The narcissist becomes the only reliable voice.

Outside help becomes a threat.

Questions become rebellion.

Escape becomes betrayal.

Many victims cannot see the prison because it has been built around their minds.

Many do not know help exists.

Many remain trauma-bonded into adulthood, emotionally tied to the very people who subjugated them.

The Capacities That Can Be Abused

The pattern is clear.

The ability to believe beyond proof.

The hunger for love and belonging.

The need for certainty.

The willingness to trust authority.

The fear of rejection.

The hope of divine approval.

Every one of these can be abused.

A Field Demanding Attention

This intersection urgently needs study and worldwide public discussion:

Religious imagination.

Faith.

Narcissistic traits and narcissistic personality disorder.

Gaslighting.

Trauma bonding.

Family systems.

Mental isolation.

Abusive subjugation in the name of God.

Perhaps many doctoral dissertations have already been written.

If so, their findings need to reach the individuals, families, seminaries, places of worship, and religious communities that need them.

More research must be conducted.

Existing books must be promoted.

Articles must be produced and distributed.

Religious seminaries and universities must teach students to recognize these dynamics.

Psychologists, psychiatrists, religious scholars, sociologists, educators, and researchers must work together.

Sermons must make the problem common knowledge.

The taboos must be broken.

The conversations must become normal.

Seeking professional help must be encouraged.

Protecting Faith

Too many lives are being quietly damaged by abusive people who use sacred language to justify control.

Too many children are being trained to confuse fear with obedience.

Too many adults remain trapped inside realities constructed by narcissistic figures they grew up trusting.

This is not a call to weaken faith.

It is a call to protect faith from those who abuse it.

The Light Must Reach Them

There is hope.

There is language for what is happening.

There are professionals who understand trauma, coercive control, gaslighting, and family systems.

There must be safe places for victims to go for help.

There must be help for people who have been taught that seeking help is a betrayal of the very abuser who presents themselves as the protector of their path to God and religious systems.

The light must reach these victims.

Disclaimer

Most religious people are not narcissists. However, we need to urgently create widespread awareness, especially within religious communities.

If this article matters to you, please support Kalkadar by liking it and sharing it.

Someone living inside such a system may finally find the words to seek professional help to understand what is happening and begin their journey towards healing.

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Let it become the: Amin Islamic Center
Let its main entrance become the: Nadir Entrance
Let its school corridor bear the name: Mansour Hall

The Story

Picture a serene afternoon at the Islamic Center of San Diego. The halls echo with bursts of laughter and the gentle chatter of children—around 140 in all, most between six and ten years old—learning, playing, and filling the space with innocent joy.

Suddenly, two armed attackers burst onto the scene, intent on inflicting tragedy upon those innocent American schoolchildren within the Islamic Center.

In that frozen instant of dread, three ordinary men stepped forward with extraordinary courage and laid down their lives protecting the children.

A Day That Changed Everything

On May 18, 2026, two teenage Islamophobic gunmen opened fire outside the Islamic Center. Inside, children huddled in classrooms as chaos erupted.

Amin Abdullah, Nadir Awad, and Mansour Kaziha met the Islamophobic gunmen head-on. They drew the danger away from the young lives and teachers, granting them those few, priceless seconds to lock down and protect themselves.

The children and teachers survived. The community, the nation and the world were spared a far deeper wound. Even as these three men never came home.

Amin Abdullah

The Guardian at the Gate

Amin Abdullah, the center’s security officer and father of eight, spotted the attackers first.

He raised the alarm, giving teachers time to secure the children, then stepped outside—armed and resolute—to face the two evil Islamophobic gunmen alone.

His swift decision purchased life itself: doors slammed shut, children hid, and innocence endured. He stood out in the open as the final line between the helpless and Islamophobic hatred.

Nadir Awad and Mansour Kaziha

Everyday Heroes

Nadir Awad lived across the street. Hearing the shots, he ran from his home toward the gunfire with nothing but his courage.

Mansour Kaziha, longtime masjid shopkeeper and community elder, joined him without hesitation.

Neither carried a gun.

In the moment of crisis, their character shone: they placed the safety of others above their own. That choice is the very definition of bravery.

Why Their Names Must Endure

Communities are forged by the stories they choose to remember.

The Islamic Center must preserve these legacies so that high morals become part of its living heritage—visible, lasting, and passed from one generation to the next.

Let it become the Amin Islamic Center.
Let its main entrance be named the Nadir Entrance.
Let its school corridor bear the name Mansour Hall.

Let the morals they taught us stay alive for centuries, Allah willing.

Inside, plaques should recount their deeds, reminding every visitor of service, faith, and selfless sacrifice.

One day a visitor will pause and ask, “Who were these men?” The answer will be timeless in its simplicity: “They ran toward mortal danger so innocent souls could live.”

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Supporting Their Families

Memory alone falls short. The community has already raised substantial funds; that momentum must continue. Coordinated crowdfunded support—financial security and long-term care—will ease the families’ burden and honor the men’s sacrifice without overburdening any single donor.

A Message That Endures

Confronted by Islamophobic hatred, Amin, Nadir and Mansour uncovered something stronger: unity, resilience, and profound humanity. They refused to let evil triumph.

Their stand reveals that a masjid is far more than walls and carpets—it is a living fellowship of learning, service, and shared life.

On May 18, ordinary believers became guardians of the innocent.

Dua Prayers

May Allah forgive Amin, Nadir, and Mansour. May Allah accept their ultimate sacrifice and martyrdom. May He elevate their ranks among the righteous, provide for their families, and inspire every child who walks these halls to choose courage when it matters most.

And peace and blessings be upon our beloved Prophet Mohammed, on his family, on his companions, and on all believers until the Last Day.

Ameen.