National database for emergency bleed control kits launches across UK

Credit: Bleed Map/The National Bleed Kit Network

By Olivia Bowthorpe

A national database for emergency bleed control kits has launched, aiming to reduce preventable deaths from catastrophic haemorrhage.

The initiative, called Bleed Map, allows the public to access a kit nearby after calling 999. This approach mirrors the national defibrillator network, The Circuit, and is the first one for bleed kits.

Emergency 999 call handlers can use Bleed Map to direct members of the public to a registered kit.

With effective use, the kits can limit external bleeding, a leading cause of preventable death after trauma. Patients can bleed to death within a matter of minutes, faster than the average ambulance arrives.

The kits contain tourniquets, haemostatic dressings and pressure bandages, designed to be used without medical training.

Overseeing the system is the National Bleed Kit Network charity. They urge anyone with a bleed control kit to register it for inclusion on the interactive map, with access days and times.