Police cars in Staffordshire fitted with kits to help save lives
Around two hundred police cars in Staffordshire have been fitted with bleed control kits to help save lives in the launch of a new project.
The kits will allow first aid-trained police officers to control bleeding from trauma injuries caused by stabbings or serious road traffic collisions, before the ambulance or paramedics arrive on the scene.
The project has been jointly funded by Staffordshire Police with the Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime, with the kits designed to complement the first aid supplies already found in police cars.
Police cars across 10 of the force's policing areas have already been equipped with the kits, which contain a chest seal, chito gauze dressing and a rapid stop tourniquet, to be used by officers if they arrive first at the scene of a medical emergency.
The equipment has already helped to save lives, as is the case in one example whereby PC Smith, who works as a dog handler, used a tourniquet when he arrived first on the scene of a man with severe bleeding which helped to stabilise his condition before he was taken to hospital.
Ben Adams, Staffordshire Commissioner for Police, Fire and Rescue and Crime, is chair of the Violence Reduction Alliance, and said he is "happy" to have helped in the funding of the kits.
He continued: "When someone is seriously injured, getting treatment to stop any bleeding as quickly as possible is vital.
"Here in Staffordshire, we take a coordinated partnership approach to reducing harm through our violence reduction alliance.
"Introducing potentially life-saving measures such as these bleed kits helps to reduce the impact violence can have on communities.
"I am determined to do everything I can to keep our communities in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent safe, which is why I was happy to provide part funding for these kits, giving our police officers the equipment they need to potentially save a life."
The kits will build upon the static kits that have previously been introduced in Burton-on-Trent by Rob Freckleton in memory of his son, Oliver, and in Stoke-on-Trent by Chit Chat 4 U, a lived experience group formed to tackle knife crime.
Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Ellison, added: "We have put bleed control kits in 200 of our police cars so we can respond, help to keep people alive and deal with some really traumatic injuries.
"The bleed kits contain items that will help to save someone's life while waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Immediate action where there is a catastrophic bleed can make a big difference to the outcome."
