Daniel's story inspires mission to get 'lifesaving' bleed kits

"Do we have any community bleed kits?”, - that was a passing comment from PC Mark Bennett of the Stourport Safer Neighbourhood Team that has led to the town now having 11 bleed kits.

A bleed kit is a specialised first aid kit that contains specific tools that help to control excessive bleeding.

PC Mark Bennett said: “I had seen on social media about a school up north that had bleed kits, and I turned to my colleagues and said that I wish we had them in Stourport. That inspired me to spend some time researching where to get these kits from, and I came across The Daniel Baird Foundation Charity”.

In July 2017, 26-year-old Daniel Baird was fatally stabbed in Birmingham following a night out with friends. Sadly, Daniel died shortly after arriving at hospital due to the catastrophic bleeding. Had there been some first aid or bleeding control kit available, Daniel could still be here today.

Following Daniel's death, his family set up The Daniel Baird Foundation Charity in his memory and now raise awareness of the importance of having publicly accessible bleeding control packs available.

PC Bennett continued: “PC Maher chatted to Lynne Baird, the mum of Daniel, who is extremely passionate about the importance of cities and towns having bleed kits available to members of the public and from that conversation, we contacted local businesses and Stourport Town Council to encourage them to purchase bleed kits so that they can be stored within community access defibrillators in Stourport”.

PC Sam Maher, who has worked alongside PC Bennett to get the kits into the town, said: “The aim isn’t to bring concern to the town that we have a huge knife problem; we wanted to add something into Stourport that adds that extra bit of safety should it ever be needed.“We must thank Gore Properties and Stourport Town Council who have bought kits and also Lynne Baird, who was happy with what had been achieved and donated three to the town.“We will continue to engage with our partners and local businesses to encourage others to purchase more kits that can then be put in other parts of the town”.

One kit has been donated to Stourport High School, another at Burlish Bike Park and one at the new youth centre on The Walshes. The other kits can found here:

• Gore Properties, St Michaels Close
• Elizabeth Mills Centre, Sion Gardens
• Public Access Toilets, The Riverside Car Park
• Stourport Community Centre, Lower Lickhill Road
• Stourport High School, Minster Road
• Burlish Bike Park, Kingsway
• The Black Star, Mitton Street
• Pinfold Court

Dr Lynne Baird MBE said: “Huge congratulations to West Mercia Police in Stourport, Worcestershire for their outstanding work in getting bleed control kits into the local community. Your dedication, collaboration, and commitment to public safety will undoubtedly save lives. The area is safer because of your efforts, and your proactive approach sets a powerful example for others to follow.”

Assistant Chief Constable Gareth Morris said: “This is an incredible example of passion and initiative from one of our Safer Neighbourhood Teams and I commend PC Bennett and PC Maher on their work to get these potentially lifesaving bleed kits onto the streets of Stourport.“This also demonstrates how collaboratively working with partner agencies, such as the town council, makes us a much stronger force and together we have now provided something to the people of Stourport that could potentially one day prevent someone losing a life.“I have been involved with the Daniel Baird Foundation and Lynne for many years and her mission to roll out bleed kits and awareness. I wholeheartedly support this drive to get vital first aid equipment into our town and city centres. They can support a number of incidents from accidents, road collisions, knife crime and assaults.“Whilst West Mercia doesn’t see the levels of knife crime that is seen in some parts of the UK, the access to lifesaving kit in a time of need is really important”.

The announcement of the bleed kits coincides with Sceptre that has taken place this week.

West Mercia Police has joined forces from across the country to be part of a national anti-knife crime intensification week to highlight the work done by teams throughout the year to tackle knife crime within our communities. 

Find out more about the The Daniel Baird Foundation Charity here.