Five bleed kits installed across Birmingham city centre

The locations are: The Custard Factory, Dale End, Bullring car-park on Edgbaston Street, Centenary Square and New Street.

Author: Claire EmmsPublished 13th May 2024
Last updated 13th May 2024

Today Police have been installing life-saving bleed kits across #Birmingham city centre.

The five kits have been installed at key locations around the city centre – the locations are: The Custard Factory, Dale End, Bullring car-park on Edgbaston Street, Centenary Square and New Street.

Officers have been working with The Central Business Improvement District (BID) who applied for the funding for the kits through the PCC with our support.

The bleed kits which contain bandages, tourniquets and gloves are essential as they can allow treatment to begin before paramedics arrive.

They are designed to be easy to use and keep an injured person alive until they can receive treatment from a paramedic or a doctor.

The roll out follows passionate campaigning from Lynne Baird whose son Daniel tragically died in July 2017 after he was stabbed to death in Birmingham.

Lynne has since set up the Daniel Baird Foundation which campaigns for bleed control kits to be placed in locations accessible to the public.

Sergeant Kris Willetts from Birmingham Police, said: “These kits can help save a person’s life and it’s important that they are readily available and easily accessible should they ever be needed.

“We installed one of the kits at The Custard Factory and we were joined by the BWP Princes Trust who took the opportunity to show some young people who are part of their scheme, how the bleed kits work.

“I want to say a big thank you to the Central BID who applied for these life-saving kits and Digbeth Estate and Bullring Birmingham who have also shown their support by allowing us to use their locations for the kits to be fitted.

“The effects of knife crime can be devastating which is why it’s so important to reduce the number of knives and weapons on the streets and for these life-saving kits to be readily available should they ever need to be used.”

West Midlands Police & Crime Commissioner Simon Foster, who has paid for 420 new bleed control kits across the region, said: “I’m delighted to see the installation of the new bleed control kits in Birmingham, a pledge I’ve commissioned and financed to help save lives.

“The five new medical packs in Birmingham are just a handful of the 420 kits that will be put in place across the entirety of the West Midlands.

“On average, it takes an ambulance eight minutes to respond to a 999 call – but bleeding from a serious injury can prove fatal in as little as three minutes. Bleed control kits can, and will, save lives.”

Stuart Grainger from Central Business Improvement District, said: "We are very grateful to support West Midlands Police with this important project of life saving equipment being placed within the community."

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