Six years later and knife-enabled crime stands at ‘49,027 offences in the year ending March 2022’, a 10% increase from the year ending March 2021. Since his death, Daniels’ mother, Lynne Baird MBE, has campaigned to prevent knife-related killings through the Daniel Baird Foundation and founded the ‘Control The Bleed: Save a Life’ campaign. This campaign provides bleed kits designed to treat wounds quickly and effectively prior to paramedics arriving on the scene. The first public access bleed control kit was installed in Birmingham on 12th November 2020, and many have since been installed throughout the UK, often alongside public defibrillators. The boxes can be accessed using a code provided by a 999 operator and several ambulance services, including the London Ambulance Service, now register bleed control kits on their CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) system. Individual kits can also be purchased for businesses, public buildings and personal use. All kits can be registered online with the appropriate ambulance service.
A bleed control kit will typically contain the following:
- Trauma dressing – used to control moderate bleeding by applying pressure.
- Haemostatic Gauze Dressing – works to stop life-threatening bleeding after just 60 seconds of compression, with the aid of coagulation granules.
- Chest seal – an innovative dressing designed for emergency management of penetrating chest wounds.
- Tourniquet – used to stop catastrophic bleeding from limbs.
- Nitrile Gloves – for personal protection.
A ‘knife or sharp instrument’ was the ‘method of killing’ used in 40% ‘of all recorded homicides in the year ending March 2022’. However, bleed control kits can be used to stem bleeding from other causes, such as a car accident or work-related injury. There are several providers of training sessions, although the kits themselves do include instructions on how to use each item and 999 operators will be able to provide advice over the phone.
Daniel Baird’s family believe that if a bleed control kit had been available on the night he was stabbed, his life may not have been cut so short. Those first few minutes are vital when it comes to blood loss and the hope is that these kits will ensure more people return home to their families.