Children as young as eight in West Midlands taught how to use bleed control kits

Children in Solihull as young as eight are being taught how to use life-saving bleed-control kits.

The Daniel Baird Foundation has decided to visit local Cub and Scouts groups, alongside young people in schools.

Daniel was stabbed to death in 2017 on his way home from visiting The Forge Tavern in Digbeth.

What do the Daniel Baird Foundation do?

A bleed-control kit nearby would have saved Daniel's life.

Bleed-control kits provide the necessary tools and supplies to quickly and effectively manage life-threatening bleeding until professional medical help arrives.

The foundation goes into schools to explain how the bleed control kits work.

In that way, they act as a preventative measure because the children understand how fatal casualties can be at the hand of a knife.

Why do young children need to know how to save lives?

Holly Baird is Daniel's sister and helps the foundation to teach children how to use the kits.

She said that anyone can learn how to save lives, they just have to be more mindful about how they tell Daniel's story.

"Children are inquisitive and always ask me how my brother started bleeding. I am not going to tell them, because I think they are too young to know that.

"The main thing is that he was hurt and bled to death. No one should have to go through that," she said.

3rd Olton Scouts are one of the groups visited by the Daniel Baird Foundation in its initiative to approach younger children.

Stewart, the group lead volunteer there, said he wanted the Cubs to learn how to use the kits, after recent tragedies across the country:

"I have taught them how to deal with bleeding but not at this level. I think it is important that young people know how to deal with these things," he said.

The Daniel Baird foundation said it plans to visit these young people every 6-12 months to revisit the training, so they don't forget how to deal with catastrophic bleeding.

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