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Tucson police officers will soon be armed with lifesaving equipment used in Iraq and Afghanistan that is designed to stop bleeding quickly.

QuikClot — a spongelike product made to stop moderate to severe bleeding — is placed directly on a wound and is easily applied by those without a medical background, according to the company's Web site.

The product was purchased by the Tucson Police Foundation, which spent upward of $7,000 on 700 QuikClots, said Mike Feder, the foundation's executive director.

The foundation was moved to make the purchase after a Tucson police officer was stabbed and another was shot during a domestic dispute on Mother's Day, Feder said.

Less than a month later, Officer Erik Hite was killed by a gunshot to the head during a crosstown pursuit. Two Pima County sheriff's deputies were wounded by the gunman in that incident.

"We already made the decision to do this prior to the death of Officer Hite, but that intensified the need," Feder said. "We don't want our law-enforcement officials out on the street defenseless.

"If someone is shot or stabbed and an artery is hit, typically the person would bleed out at the scene," Feder said. "There would be no time to get to an emergency room. This gives them at least an hour because it coagulates and stops the bleeding."

But the product likely wouldn't be effective in catastrophic incidents, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

He could not comment on whether it could have saved Hite's life.

The equipment will be presented to interim Chief Kermit Miller during a press conference this morning and distributed to officers in the field who can use it on co-workers injured in the line of duty or on wounded citizens, Feder said.

The Tucson Police Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization dedicated to fostering public safety through community building, education and outreach.

It works with the Police Department and community-safety advocates to develop and implement public-safety and crime-prevention programs.

For more information on the foundation, go online to www. tucsonpolicefoundation.org.