Essex student develops technology to help treat stabbing victims
Joseph Bentley from Witham has created a device that can stop bleeding faster than methods used currently.
As Essex Police's week of action against knife crime draws to a close, we caught up with Joseph Bentley who has developed a new device that can help stop bleeding in victims of stabbing.
The 22-year old from Witham, recently graduated from Loughborough University. It was there he had the idea for the REACT system.
He explains how it works: "It uses an inflatable silicon balloon, if you will, that can be inserted into the knife wound tract by a first-responder. It is inflated using a sort of hand-held actuating device. This applies internal pressure onto the wound site and can stop bleeding faster than current technologies."
The idea germinated from the fact that current advice when one is impaled, is to leave the object in the body to stem bleeding. "I kept thinking, what happens in the instance when people are stabbed? They're not left with the weapon inside aren't they?
"A balloon is also easy to transport and inflate and easier to remove."
Addressing the impacts of knife crime is something that Mr Bentley is passionate about. He says: "We're constantly seeing how much of an effect knife crime is having. It's constantly on our screens and newspapers. I had two friends who were stabbed in the streets of London, and thankfully they survived.
"But so many hundreds in the UK and thousands around the world who aren't that lucky."
The invention attracted a lot of attention and earlier this year, he was awarded the prestigious UK James Dyson Award.
Mr Bentley says: "I think that was one of the most significant thing to ever happen to be. As a designer and engineer, the James Dyson award is definitely something that I never imagined I would win."
He has also won £2000 which will go towards developing his concept: "The amount of boost its given me and accelerated the project, the people I'm now in contact with is incredible. Talking about testing, clinical trials and getting it onto the streets and talking to police officers, the funding will definitely help that."
Currently in the process of developing prototypes and going through clinical trials, Mr Bentley is optimistic about that they can start production soon.
"Getting new technology that is faster and hopefully better at saving people's lives into the hands of first-responders as soon as possible is definitely the goal for us. And we think this will be possible in the next five to ten years."