Wolverhampton charity says military-grade first aid kits in public 'will save lives'
The kits will be clear to use for people who are not first aid trained
A Wolverhampton charity wants military grade first aid kits to be put in venues like football stadiums and train stations.
CitizenAID, a group set up by civilian and military doctors, are fully behind calls for specialist kits to be rolled out.
Also backed by the St John Ambulance service and UK counter-terrorism police, these kits will help save lives if people are stabbed or involved in a terrorist attack.
Public Access Trauma (PAcT) Kits will be available for members of the public to use regardless of whether they are first aid trained.
Installed in large and busy venues, the kits will allow anyone to help in the event of serious incidents, such as a terrorist attack, stabbing or road traffic collision.
They will contain PPE, tuff cut scissors, large trauma wound dressings, woven triangular bandages and tourniquets, while there will be enough equipment to treat two people per kit.
Professor Keith Porter, from Wolverhampton-based charity CitizenAID, says
"there is absolutely no doubt, from very significant military experience, that in the presence of catastrophic external bleeding, that tourniquets will prevent the blood loss which is actually going to lead to shock and loss of life.
"We are now seeing people with life threatening injuries due to stabbings, due to interpersonal violence, due to blast and gunshot wounds and we know people are dying from blood loss, so including tourniquets is a major step forward which will undoubtedly save lives.
"These first aid kits will contain an aide memoire which is very simple, even if one can’t read or write very well, one can see exactly what one should do and we can handle very much those immediate life threatening problems and the things that are going to save lives."