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Bleed Control & Trauma Empty First Aid Bags

Bag choices are an important consideration for emergency incident response. Our range features bags for individual kits as well as several larger grab bags for large kits or for housing several individual kits and dispensing quickly to casualties in the event of an emergency. All of our bags are hardwearing, clearly marked and easy to transport when time is of the essence.

Guidance On Enhanced First Aid Provision & Preparedness

Why Should Organisations Ensure Adequate First Aid Preparedness For Mass Casualty Events?

Protect UK strongly encourage public and private sector organisations to 'enhance first aid preparedness and response planning, so it takes into account the likely injuries which can be the result of a malicious event, such as a terrorist attack'.

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It is common for organisations to have a basic level of first aid preparedness not only to comply with legal requirements, but also as a means to enhance the first aid resilience of their workforce. This effort is aimed at safeguarding the welfare of employees, visitors, and anyone in the vicinity of a business premises by offering humanitarian assistance to those in need.

By enhancing their level of first aid provisions, an organisation contributes to strengthening their own and the general population's ability to perform life-saving first aid effectively, which will undoubtedly increase the survival chances of individuals with life-threatening injuries.

Furthermore, the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, also known as Martyn’s Law, will require those responsible for publicly accessible premises with capacities over 200 to take steps to reduce the threat to the public from terrorist attacks, through assessing risks and having appropriate measures in place to mitigate physical harm.

Under current proposals, an inspection regime will be put in place with full powers of entry into any qualifying location. Regulators will have a range of sanctions to address non-compliance with the proposed law, and will be able to impose penalties, including restriction notices or fines of up to £18m or 5% of worldwide revenue.

Having first aid provisions to treat critical injuries readily to hand and clearly signposted is a reasonably practicable and effective step for organisations to take as part of these plans.

What Is The Care Gap?

The care gap is the time between an incident that causes a medical emergency and the arrival of professionals who can treat the casualty immediately. When a medical emergency occurs, people expect an ambulance to be immediately deployed, arrive in a matter of minutes, and for the casualty to receive medical attention immediately upon arrival.

But when a mass casualty event occurs, alongside logistical challenges and any dangers still present, there can simply be too many casualties and too few paramedics, so some casualties have to wait to be treated. This is when the care gap becomes too large, and further damage or even death can result from a lack of prompt medical intervention.

Traumatic injuries such as major bleeds can result in death in minutes, but having provisions to stop severe bleeding readily available and easy to access can be vital in keeping casualties alive until professional help arrives.

This is also the case for premises with machinery or sharp/moving objects where there is a risk of a major bleed injury occuring. The time it takes to bleed out from a critical bleed is often less than the fastest time it takes for an ambulance to arrive. This is an example of the care gap and why any premises where there is a risk of a critical bleed injury occuring should be prepared with enhanced first aid provisions, such as a Critical Injury Pack compliant to BS8599-1 or having bleed control products included alongside basic first aid provisions.

How Does The Protection of Premises Act (Martyn’s Law) Affect First Aid Obligations?

The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, also known as Martyn’s Law, will enhance public safety by ensuring better preparedness for, and protection from, terrorist attacks. It is now law for most types of public premises and events with capacities over 200.

It does not specifically state any mandatory requirements for first aid as specific actions for compliance will vary between premises and events. However, it does mandate that applicable premises and events assess the risks properly and have appropriate procedures in place to respond to an attack and mitigate physical harm in the event of an attack.

This may include the need to provide the necessary first aid to be able to carry out those emergency response procedures, along with additional security measures, staff training, evacuation/invacuation planning, waymarking, and other elements. As such, the Home Office already recommend all public premises have at least two trauma kits on-site within official preparedness guidance.

A basic level of First aid preparedness is an existing legal obligation and is common within organisations. Enhancing first aid provisions with items which can treat trauma such as catastrophic bleeding almost certainly improves the chances of reducing harm and saving lives, as is the goal of Martyn’s Law.

It is also an important consideration for Evacuation plans – which are now a legal requirement under Martyn’s Law. Consideration should be given to how to evacuate casualties or ‘walking wounded’ in the event of an attack.

ProtectUK and National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) state "Public and private sector organisations are strongly encouraged to enhance their first aid preparedness and response planning, so it takes into account the likely injuries which can be the result of a malicious event, such as a terrorist attack."

Furthermore, the HSE already strongly recommend the public are included in any first aid provisions. First Aid is based on a risk assessment, and a Security Risk Assessment now required for Martyn’s law may indicate the need for appropriate first aid provision to respond to a security incident.

Infrastructure such as signage must also adequately support security, evacuation and response plans – this may include clearly signposting and waymarking, as well as increasing awareness of the security protocols you have put in place.