RAPAIDTaxis carrying military-standard bandage kits for stab wounds may quickly be on the streets in elements of south Wales.
A charity run by an ex-soldier and police officer hopes to subject 50 kits to cabbies in Cardiff, as a part of an increasing community that features six different UK cities.
Kits carried by taxi drivers, recognized by stickers on their automobiles, may then be flagged down by members of the general public if they’re aiding anybody with a stab wound.
“It’s a grim truth you could bleed to loss of life in beneath 5 minutes,” mentioned Alex Chivers, co-founder of Rapaid.
“The faster therapy begins, the higher your probabilities of survival.”
Hundreds of Rapaid kits are already in circulation round London, Manchester, Oxford, Exeter, Swindon and Plymouth, with Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan being the following areas to profit.
The kits embrace bandages designed to stem critical blood loss, with Mr Chivers saying that having them as accessible as attainable to the general public was a precedence.
“From my expertise as a police officer and the army, it’s usually the general public which are the primary folks on scene earlier than anyone arrives, earlier than assist comes,” he mentioned.
“It’s these first golden minutes that individuals want one thing.
Rapaid “I simply thought to myself, why have the general public not obtained entry to those bandages, and the way can we get them out into the general public area?
“Taxis are out and in of our communities day and night time, they’re on all of the excessive streets at night time time. They’re exterior all the recent spots.”
Figures present hospital admissions in Wales for assault with sharp objects has dropped lately, with 60 admissions within the 12 months as much as March 2024.
This was a 19% discount on the earlier 12 months (74), and a 50% drop on the figures from 5 years in the past (121).
Rapaid The variety of knife and sharp instrument offences recorded by police in Wales has additionally fallen barely from a excessive of 1,680 in 2019-20, though the figures final 12 months (1,584 offences) remained greater than twice as excessive as they have been a decade in the past.
And with about half of these offences dedicated within the South Wales Police space, Mr Chivers admitted knife crime was nonetheless an issue inside some communities.
“It’s higher to have the kits and never want them, but when one bandage saves one life, then we’ve achieved what we would like,” he mentioned.
The kits will not be reserved just for victims of knife crime, nonetheless, with Mr Chivers saying that kits had already been used throughout the nation for different accidents as properly, akin to these involving drunk revellers or damaged glass.
The goal was to not burden taxi drivers with extra accountability, he added, they usually may merely “hand them over” to bystanders serving to somebody in want.
Stickers within the window would establish these taxis carrying the kits, with these in Cardiff additionally together with bilingual directions to make use of the bandages and assist the injured individual.
“What I’d like to see is that these are on the taxis throughout the entire nation, and it simply turns into regular that they carry these,” mentioned Mr Chivers.
Rapaid “Folks have already been saved. It’s simply such a easy concept.”
The scheme, launched in Cardiff on Friday, already has the backing of the council, taxi drivers and South Wales Police.
“The authority are delighted that drivers within the metropolis will be capable to carry these kits and for the marketing campaign to be out there within the metropolis,” mentioned Rhys Morgan, from Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan licencing part.
He added: “Having the instruments out there throughout town to help in preparedness and response to critical accidents or emergencies is a step ahead in offering assist to the broader daytime and nighttime economic system within the metropolis.”
