Move backed by mother of murdered teenager
The kits can be used to provide treatment before paramedics arrive
Potentially life-saving catastrophic bleed kits are to be provided to youth clubs across Hammersmith & Fulham, the first time this has been done in any London Borough
The local police Youth Engagement Team (YET) will provide this specialist equipment which helps stem extreme blood loss and save lives before paramedics arrive. Twenty kits will be placed in youth clubs and other hard to reach communities.
The recently formed YET is made up of seven officers handpicked for their ability to engage with young people aged 10 to 25 years.
Sergeant Daniel Penfold who leads H&F’s YET said London’s knife crime is at a record high with more than 10,506 knife incidents recorded last year and 27 teenage lives lost due to stab wounds.
They aim to target young people living with and involved in knife crime and provide them with critical first aid training and information about the details of stab wounds which, it is hoped, will deter them from carrying knives.
Chelsea, Fulham and QPR football clubs are also on board and agreed to have staff and youths trained. Once trained and even without a kit a person can apply first aid and save a life which is why Sgt Penfold is rolling out the training across the borough to Street Doctors, St John’s Ambulance, and the Red Cross.
He says the real legacy for him and his team would be to keep the rapport going with youth clubs, build on the relationships and develop trust with young people who can be wary of the police. Police officers will give follow up training sessions to reach an even wider audience.
The move was backed by the mother of Ayub Hassan from Shepherd’s Bush who was stabbed to death when aged 17 in 2019. A 16-year-old boy was jailed for his murder. Siraad Aden said, "The loss of Ayub had left my entire family heartbroken and shattered."
The scheme was also welcomed by Lynne Baird, whose son Daniel was killed in 2012 and set up the Daniel Baird foundation which supplies the kits. There was no first aid or bleed control kit available at the scene of the attack, and Daniel died shortly after arriving at hospital, due to catastrophic bleeding. "I hope that this launch today will spark more forces to join our campaign and help make these kits available up and down the country.”
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May 16, 2022
