Four years ago, Professor Anthony Marsh of the West Midlands Ambulance Service said rolling out publicly accessible bleed kits was “absolutely the right thing to do.” Why then, is the capital’s ambulance service so reluctant to fully embrace them?
There are believed to be over 400 of these bleed control kits inside locked cabinets across London, designed to treat victims in incidents like stabbings and road traffic collisions.
In theory, when a caller dials 999, an ambulance service call handler can give them the location and unlock code for the nearest emergency cabinet.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) has two faces when it comes to this. On the one hand, it says it will refer members of the public to these boxes and provide the unlock codes where clinically appropriate. On the other, it says these kits require “specific training” and should not be locked away. It has left campaigners wondering: are they really committed to the scheme?
It is equally concerning that the Mayor’s Office has funded many of these cabinets through local authorities and the Met Police. Now, it backs LAS’ statement expressing skepticism about their use.
Campaigners are left in a difficult position. Do they keep installing these cabinets in the hope LAS will come around? Or do they cut their losses and focus on schemes that will have the authorities’ unequivocal backing?