- Six new stab survival containers will be installed across Liverpool’s city centre
- 20 more are expected to be installed across the North West
- England and Wales has seen a rise in knife-related offences in the past decade
Liverpool has installed ‘stab survival cupboards’ to help reverse the rising trend of knife crime-related deaths in the UK, the first initiative of its kind in Britain.
The red containers hold medical equipment, including scissors, gloves, tourniquets and chest wound sealants, and will be accessible using codes provided by calling 999.
They are designed to be used by both members of the public who witness stabbings, and emergency services, including paramedics and police officers.
The first six are being installed across Liverpool’s city centre, following the fatal stabbing of 12-year-old Ava White in November 2021.
She passed away after she was stabbed in the city’s centre, moments after a Christmas lights switch-on event.
KnifeSavers, the organisation taking charge of the initiative, says it hoped more will be installed across the country.
Nikhil Misra, a consultant trauma surgeon at Liverpool’s Aintree University Hospital and KnifeSavers founder, said: ‘Whether it’s a knife wound, or an injury from a fall or a car crash, every second counts when it comes to controlling the bleeding and hopefully saving someone’s life.
‘These kits provide the essential equipment needed to reduce and prevent catastrophic bleeding until the arrival of paramedics and it’s our mission to try and get the cabinets and bleed kits truly accessible across the whole of the North West, and then all of the country.’
20 more are expected to be installed across the North West, while a further 1,500 portable, in the form of smaller bleed kits, have already been handed out to venues, including clubs, bars, pubs and schools, in the region.
KaysMedical, the company partnering with KnifeSavers to provide the kits, says each bleed kit holds the necessary equipment to help one person, while each bleeding control cabinet can hold up to six of these kits.
Superintendent Georgie Garvey, director of Merseyside’s Violence Reduction Partnership, said: ‘The early stages after a violent incident are often the most important in terms of delivering life-saving medical care.
‘These cabinets will assist members of the community to provide a rapid response prior to the arrival of emergency services, enabling a wound to be packed or wrapped and buying the injured person more time, which ultimately could help to save their life.’
Superintendent Phil Mullally, Merseyside Police’s lead for Serious Violence and Knife Crime, added: ‘Reducing serious violence is a priority for the force and we have ongoing operations and initiatives targeted at reducing and preventing knife crime.
‘We are targeting serious violence hotspot areas with high visibility patrols and using new powers such as Serious Violence Reduction Orders to keep the pressure on those who unlawfully carry and use knives in Merseyside.’
While Merseyside has seen a significant fall in knife-related offences in the past few years, they have been on the rise across the UK over the past 10 years
Knife-related crimes increased by 3% in the year to June 2023, while England and Wales saw a record high of 282 homicides involving a knife or a sharp instrument in the year to March 2022.
Data from the Home Office shows that Surrey, Northumbria and Derbyshire had the highest growth in knife-related offences between 2021 and 2022, each county’s police force seeing a more than 9% growth in offences
Per 100,000 people, Essex had the highest number of knife-related offences, at 89. Humberside and Merseyside police forces reported that they weren’t far behind, each at 86 knife offences per 100,000.
MailOnline has contacted KnifeSavers for comment.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
