Exeter taxi cabs to carry 'life-saving' bandages

Sixty taxi cabs in Exeter will now support the initiative and carry a bandage kit

Taxi drivers in Exeter have been given military-grade emergency bandages designed to prevent serious blood loss in the event of an injury.

Sixty red and black taxi cabs in Exeter support the initiative, each with a green sticker to show they have a kit.

The aim of the initiative is to allow passers-by to flag down a taxi and grab a bandage in the event of an emergency.

The bandage kits were donated by charity Rapaid, founded by Alex Chivers who went to school in Exeter.

The rollout in Exeter follows successful campaigns in Manchester, Oxford and Swindon - with hundreds of taxi cabs now carrying the bandage kits.

Alex Chivers said the bandages were "for those first vital five minutes before help arrives"

Mr Chivers, a former police firearms officer and military veteran, said: "With a serious haemorrhage you can bleed to death in under five minutes - time literally does save lives.

"I knew that a solution had to be simple enough for the untrained public and be quickly and easily accessible to find in those initial few moments.

"It made perfect sense to use the same pressure bar bandages designed for soldiers on the battlefield - these bandages are carried worldwide by the military and emergency services and will stem serious blood loss in those vital first minutes until help arrives.

"It's fantastic to be able to donate these bandage bags into Exeter where I grew up and went to school."

The initiative was also welcomed by Devon and Cornwall Police.

'A fantastic initiative'

Joel Cooper from road safety partnership Vision Zero South West, said: "Having lifesaving bandages and life-saving equipment readily available to the public in those vital first moments of an accident or incident can make all the difference, well done Rapaid."

Patron of the charity Travis Frain was injured in the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017 - suffering serious blood loss caused by lacerations.

He said he hoped the bandages were never needed, but if they were used, he said they would "save lives".

Mr Frain said: "You cannot underestimate just how significant the deployment of these emergency bandage kits is and how much of a difference they will undoubtedly make."