Campaign calls for stab packs in Bristol

A campaign has been launched to supply potentially lifesaving "stab packs" to all public venues in Bristol.

It follows an increase in the number of stabbings and knife attacks in the greater Bristol area.

The bleed control kits are designed to stem catastrophic bleeding in the crucial minutes between a knife attack and medics arriving on the scene.

Bristol City Council and the area's clinical commissioning group (CCG) have been urged to distribute the packs.

Health campaigner Andy Burkitt told Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG governing body members the number of stabbings and knife attacks had "accelerated across Britain and the greater Bristol area".

He said: "It is a culture that harms young people in terms of their health, their stress levels, the worries of their parents and the ability of young people to progress in society through education."

He requested the kits, which include pressure dressings, gauze bandages and tourniquets, to be introduced, and asked whether the CCG will work with the city council to adopt the proposals.

CCG interim director of nursing and quality Janet Baptiste-Grant told a meeting that "serious crime and violence" was a part of its safeguarding strategy, and she thought stab packs were "a good idea".

Bristol's deputy mayor Asher Craig said tackling street violence was "to be a priority across the city".

He said: "We are not on the level of Manchester and London, but the reason we're getting on the front foot with this is because it's something that's bubbling under the surface."