Force rolls out specialist trauma response kits

Just weeks after being rolled out across the Force, specialist trauma response kits have already been used by Northamptonshire Police.

Officers based in the Kettering Response Team were grateful to have the medical pack available when they recently attended an incident where a female had been self-harming.

One of the cuts needed urgent medical attention and the officers were able to use bandages from the kit to dress the wound until colleagues from the East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) arrived to take over.

However it is not only frontline officers who have received training to use the kits. The enhanced programme is being rolled out to every police officer, community support officer, Special Constable and some members of police staff, to improve both public and officer safety.

The kits have been available to officers since March, after volunteers gave up their weekend to put a total of 134 specialist packs together and upgrade existing first aid provisions to reflect the high standard of training.

The specialist packs contain a tourniquet, emergency bandages and haemostatic gauze, designed to create a clot and staunch major bleeding – all equipment which can be used to administer potentially life-saving emergency first aid.

Northamptonshire Police Operation Training Officer, Matt Bradbrook, said: “The trauma response kits are an essential piece of equipment for officers who are often the first at the scene of an incident.

“The risk to officers and staff is higher than it has ever been as there is a greater chance of being sent to a job where there is some kind of major trauma. The contents of the kits reflect this, giving staff the right equipment to help them take control of the situation.

“However it’s important to understand, as valuable as these kits are, they’re not replacing the Ambulance Service but instead enhancing the chances of potentially saving someone’s life by stabilising their condition until our colleagues from EMAS arrive.”

The trauma kits have been funded by Northamptonshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Stephen Mold and supplied by the East Midlands Ambulance Service at a concessionary rate.

Stephen said: “Northamptonshire Police frontline officers are often first on the scene of any incident and they receive a very high-standard of training to enable them to support the public and protect themselves.

“I am proud of the way our officers respond to emergencies and was keen to invest in providing these trauma kits. It is wonderful to hear that they are already being used to such good effect.”

It is believed that Northamptonshire Police is the first in the country to deploy the trauma kits, which has attracted the interest from other forces across the UK.