Bleed kit training helps combat knife crime deaths

Paramedics Kyle Raffo and Bradley Sadat-Shafai say they want to create an "army" of trained bleed control first aiders

Two paramedics have begun offering free bleed control kits and training for the public to help save lives.

Paramedics Kyle Raffo and Bradley Sadat-Shafai have developed the kits they say can mean the difference between life and death in the first few minutes after someone is injured.

It comes as Office of National Statistics figures show there were 234 knife-related homicides in England and Wales in the year to March 2023.

On Wednesday, members of the public in Tamworth were being trained how to use the kits.

Michael Agnew was among those taking part in training in Tamworth

Among those taking part was Michael Agnew, of Tamworth Round Table. He was called to provide aid four years ago when he saw a motorbike crash.

"We started CPR, doing compressions, lifted up his top and there was quite a bit of blood coming out of his stomach," he said.

"Just having that experience of the training and being able to have that kit there might have made a difference."

The kits include tourniquets, chest seals and trauma dressings designed specifically to stop serious bleeds

To promote the kits Mr Raffo and Mr Sadat-Shafai have launched a campaign called Haemorrhage control And Life-saving Treatment (Halt) that includes 100 free bleed kits to communities across the country.

The kits are designed to enable members of the community to provide vital treatment in the minutes after someone is stabbed or has sustained a traumatic bleed.

A free-to-use online training platform has also been launched with the Halt campaign.

Mr Raffo, who featured in several series of channel 4’s 999: On the Front Line, said: "After a decade serving the NHS on the frontline in Birmingham, I’ve seen the rise in deaths due to stab wounds and other serious traumatic bleed injuries.

“We’ve watched people die in front of us because we couldn’t get there any sooner and yet for the sake of a simple piece of kit that costs probably less than a family trip to the cinema, a life could be saved."

Mr Sadat-Shafai added: “The aim is to have bleed control kits located across the country, with thousands of people trained in how to use them should they ever find themselves at the scene of an incident.

“If you know how to treat a life-threatening bleed and how to administer first aid, those are skills for life.”