LIFE-SAVING equipment is set to be rolled out across Solihull and Coventry in a bid to combat the deadly scourge of knife crime.
The 400 kits will contain equipment including bandages and dressings to stem the flow of blood until paramedics arrive on scene when people have been stabbed.
The kits will be made available across Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Coventry.
The force is the first in the country to roll out the kits, which West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) David Jamieson says can save lives.
According to the PCC the kits will cost around £38,000 and West Midlands Police and local Community Safety Partnerships will be helping to facilitate this roll out.
It comes as the region remains in the midst of a knife crime epidemic, with the force recording more than 3,000 offences involving a knife over the last year.
A total of 50 of those incidents resulted in a death.
This latest roll out comes following passionate campaigning by Lynne Baird to install Bleed Control Kits across Birmingham City Centre.
The Birmingham pilot was launched by the Community Safety Partnership in June, and was able to purchase 50 kits to be installed in various location in the city centre, following funding from the PCC.
Lynne runs The Daniel Baird Foundation in memory of her son who was fatally stabbed in Birmingham in July 2017.
Mr Jamieson said: “I am delighted to announce that these small-life saving packs will now be available across the whole of the West Midlands.
“Violent crime has been rising across the country and here in the West Midlands we are not immune.
“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in knife crime, rising from 1,566 incidents in 2012 to 2,900 in 2018.
“If the roll out of these kits can help just one person, they will have proved a resounding success.”
Coventry councillor Jayne Innes, who is hoping to become Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Coventry North West, introduced Ms Baird to council leaders this week.
She said: “I’ve known inspirational Lynne Baird for many years. I was shocked and horrified when, just over two years ago, Lynne lost her son Daniel Baird to knife crime. Daniel was just a normal young man enjoying a night out in Birmingham. Daniel’s blood loss was so heavy from the attack that paramedics and the NHS were unable to save him.
“For any parent, losing a child is unimaginable. Lynne is using her loss to help save others.
“We know we have lost young people to knife crime in Coventry recently, it is crucial we roll these kits out in Coventry as soon as possible.”
