Charity say missing bleed kits are could lead to loss of life
Off the Streets Northants CIC say three emergency bleed kits have gone missing this year alone.
A Northamptonshire charity say missing bleed kits could lead to lives being lost.
Off the Streets NN CIC was set up in 2021 after the fatal stabbing of 16 year old Dylan Holliday.
They provide over 300 medical and army grade bleed kits across the county. They are available in public places like pubs and business and supermarkets. Where they are situated is shared with the public, as well as police and East Midlands Ambulance Service for use in an emergency or even a stabbing.
Since they were set up four years ago they've been used in critical incidents and potentially saved lives seven times.
"It's life or death"
The charity say when these bleed kits are used in situations such as this, they replace them within 24 hours.
Off the Streets say three medical grade bleed kits have gone missing this year and another last year, at a cost of £107 each, and it's only just been revealed to them.
This years three missing kits have gone from places in Northampton, Wellingborough and Irchester.
Jane Capps is a co-founder:
"If anybody around that area needed that kit for whatever reason, it could be an accident. It could be a stabbing, it could be anything where there's critical blood loss, the ambulance service will direct them to that place, and if it's not there then it literally could be life or death. So it's crucial to know where the kits are."
Jane says in a critical blood loss situation, victims have four minutes before they need assistance:
"People don't have time to wait for you to search an entire building to go and find it because somebody else might have moved it. It's really it's really important to have it in a central place. Everybody knows where it is. It's clear, it's obvious."
The charity say they're now looking for sponsors to help them fund the replacement kits.