Delivering a $10 million first-aid contract

When Dave Hammond was dodging bullets and tending to wounded marines in Vietnam from 1970 to 1974, the Navy hospital corpsman's attention was focused on saving lives. He was too busy to think that his wartime experiences could lead to a safety-related business-let alone one that could beat out competitors like Johnson & Johnson for a U.S. government contract worth an estimated $10 million.

That happened last month when DLH, the Tinton Falls company Hammond runs with his wife, Linda, outbid all comers to provide its patented Intelligent First Aid Kit to up to 44,100 U.S. Postal Service facilities and 250,000 letter-carrier vehicles across the country. In all, the kits will help protect some 800,000 postal employees.

The kits combine supplies and how-to cards in color-coded packs for each type of injury. "Our kits don't replace doctors," says Hammond, 55. "But they temporarily help to stem an emergency until Emergency Medical Services or other help arrives."