Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies are now armed with a simple life-saving tool that might have saved a Pembroke Park woman after she was stabbed in January: Quick Clot.

The clotting sponges, which look like bean bags, are known by a variety of brand names and have been used for years in warzones.

According to Dr. Nabil El Sanadi, BSO’s Medical Director, Quick Clot is essential to the arsenal of any law enforcement officer.

“It's just been something that's been translated into the civilian world where paramedics on the urban streets of Broward County are actually using to save lives,” El Sanadi said.

Quick Clot is easy to use; a deputy can easily tear open the package and apply it directly to a wound, even a traumatic one.

On January 28th, a woman in the Lake Shore Mobile Home Community in Pembroke Park called 911 while she was being stabbed. Police said Ralph Skidmore, a romantic interest, threatened to kill her before brandishing a 10-inch knife.

“I've just been stabbed in the heart with a knife,” the woman told the 911 dispatcher.

Moments later, the woman can be heard in the 911 audio recording screaming and yelling. Police said Skidmore was plunging the knife into her chest.

LISTEN: 911 call (Warning: Disturbing content)

“I'm going to die…hello?” she pleaded with the dispatcher.

“Ma'am I'm here. Stay on the line,” the dispatcher answered calmly.

The woman repeated that she had been wounded.

“Is an ambulance on the way, ma'am? I've been stabbed,” she said.

In minutes, Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue crews raced to the scene, but deputies made it there first.

“She was actively bleeding when the deputies got there,” said firefighter Walter Stewart.

Stewart said the first deputy on scene applied Quick Clot to the woman’s chest, which stopped the bleeding. El Sanadi pointed to the beads inside the outer gauzy packet as holding the key ingredients.

“There are beads in there that have a chemical on them. The blood from the wound coming up would interact with chemicals on the beads and form an instant scab. And the scab would act as a barrier so the bleeding would stop,” he said.

Police said the woman was able to catch her breath and was alert enough to point out Skidmore to the deputies on scene.

She was raced to the hospital, where she was treated and released days later after surgery.

Although Quick Clot is meant as a quick fix until a patient is seen by a doctor at a hospital, deputies – who are often first on scene of crimes where someone is wounded – believe it saves lives.

“There is no question about it, that it's a lifesaver,” El Sanadi said.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Stewart said.

Skidmore has been charged with resisting an officer with violence, committing a felony with a weapon, and trying to kill his victim. He is being held with no bond at the Broward County Jail.