Bleed control kits available in 200 police vehicles in Staffordshire
Bleed control kits have been placed in 200 Staffordshire Police vehicles to provide potentially life-saving assistance – and another facility has been installed in Stafford town centre.
The emergency bleed control cabinet is in memory of Andrew Gardner, who was stabbed in Birmingham last year.
Andrew’s family live in Coton Fields, Stafford, and following his death they donated money raised by friends and relatives to the Daniel Baird Foundation, which works to raise awareness of the importance of publicly-accessible bleed control kits.
Borough councillor Louise Nixon, who thanked local organisations and individuals involved in the installation, has called on the Stafford community to help raise funds for another bleed box to be installed at the town’s House of Bread centre, which supports vulnerable people.
Councillor Nixon said: “Having been out late at night in Stafford I have been very impressed with how safe the streets are and how well street pastors, Stafford Borough Council and the police work together to ensure our streets remain safe.
"The Stafford Safe Space Bus is one such feature in the centre of the town, manned by Street Pastors who are available to help people that may be upset or feeling vulnerable.
“The vehicle is in Market Square and has been converted to provide room for people to have a space to be able to talk with the street pastors – who will help make sure they are able to get home safely.
"However, there is a national rise in knife crime and although Stafford is safe, there is no harm in being prepared for anything that may occur”.
Staffordshire Police vehicles also carry bleed kits so that officers can assist injured people at incidents they attend. A report to this month’s public police performance meeting revealed that knife crime incidents in the force area had decreased by 13.3 per cent in the past year compared to the previous 12-month period, but had increased by 18.6 per cent compared to the national Beating Crime Plan baseline.
Staffordshire’s Police, Crime and Fire Commissioner Ben Adams, speaking at a meeting on Tuesday, said: “Knife crime in total is up because that includes possession. That is not necessarily bad news.
“If we are stopping more people we believe are carrying a knife, that leads to a possession charge. That is good proactive policing rather than incidents involving the use of a knife.
“The Chief Constable and I have come together to fund bleed control kits. It means every vehicle now has one of those kits which might save someone’s life.”
A report to Tuesday’s Police, Fire and Crime Panel meeting said: “The specialist kits complement existing first aid supplies and are designed to control bleeding from trauma injuries caused by stabbings or serious road traffic collisions before the ambulance or paramedics arrive.
"These build upon the static kits introduced in Burton-on-Trent by Rob Freckleton in memory of his son, Oliver, and in Stoke-on-Trent by Chit Chat 4U, a group created by mums with lived experience to support victims of or involved in gangs, youth violence and knife crime.”
