Emergency bleeding kits have been installed around the Wirral

Lifesaving kits that enable members of the public to provide an emergency response where someone is losing blood from a wound have just been installed in four parts of Wirral – with more to follow shortly.

The Emergency Bleeding Control Kits are held in similar cases to community defibrillators and are designed to provide the same immediate treatment for blood loss as defibrillators provide to someone who is in cardiac arrest.

The treatment from the emergency kits can be lifesaving as it aims to reduce the amount of blood that might be lost while a rapid response ambulance crew is making its way to the scene; an ambulance can take up to seven minutes to respond to a 999 call, someone who has been stabbed could bleed to death within five minutes unless the blood loss can be curtailed.

The bleed control kits have been devised by KnifeSavers, a not-for-profit programme founded by trauma doctors at the Major Trauma Centre at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool, in conjunction with victims of knife trauma and their families.

In consultation with Merseyside Police and funded by the Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner, the first four kits are being located at McDonalds restaurants in Charing Cross, Birkenhead and Liscard Way, Wallasey (pictured), the Hoole Road Hub in Woodchurch and at Heswall library on Telegraph Road.

The kits will be maintained initially by Wirral’s Community Safety team as part of their regular checks of things like public rescue equipment, CCTV columns and water safety signage.

Each Emergency Bleeding Control Cabinet holds four bleed control Kits. In common with public access defibrillator cabinets, they can be accessed by calling 999 for the keypad code. Each kits contains an emergency tourniquet, z-fold dressing, trauma dressing, foil blanket and gloves. All contents of the kit are clearly labelled and numbered, with a step-by-step simple instruction inside.

Expressions of interest are now being sought for up to a further 16 premises to become custodians of public access Emergency Bleeding Control Cabinets across the borough and up to 50 premises to hold internally stored Bleeding Control Kits. The cabinets, kits and training will be provided for free, but installation will need to be organised and funded by the respective custodian.

Cllr Ann Ainsworth, Vice-Chair of the Tourism, Communities, Culture and Leisure Committee for Wirral Council, said:

“Violent crime – and particularly incidents involving young people and knives – are sadly a worrying and often tragic reality within many of our communities.

“There is a range of multi-agency activity taking place to address knife crime and serious violence, not least through EVOLVE Wirral, tackling serious, organised crime in Beechwood & Ballantyne, Noctorum & Woodchurch. 

“Many of those who carry knifes say initially they carried them for their own protection. Evidence shows that those who carry knives for their own protection are more likely to become a victim as a result as the knife can be turned on them. 

“The introduction of the bleed control kits is just another tool we can use to try and minimise the impact of knife crime locally building on other activity across the partnership focused upon prevention, deterrence, and enforcement.

“They could be invaluable in saving a life, not just in relation to knife crime but in the event of other traumatic incidents that require the application of a tourniquet to prevent significant blood loss. As a council we are extremely grateful to the organisations that have already agreed to host these kits and are looking forward to seeing many expressions of interests from others who want to help in their local community.”

Further information on the expressions of interest process, what being a custodian involves and how to apply can be found on the Wirral Council website here.

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