Transport for London has said no to installing bleed control kits on its buses, despite requests from the City Hall to improve the response to violent incidents. The entity argues that these kits require specific training and that current first aid kits are sufficient. This leaves the capital without an extra tool to stop severe bleeding at stops or on routes, unlike cities such as Birmingham.
The emergency technology London leaves on the platform 🚑
Bleed control kits include tourniquets, hemostatic gauze, and pressure bandages, designed for anyone to use without medical training. Cities like Birmingham have installed them in strategic points following knife attacks. TfL, however, maintains that its staff are not trained to use them and that basic first aid kits already cover needs. The decision ignores studies showing these kits can double survival rates in the first minutes after a hemorrhage.
Better to carry a tourniquet in your pocket, just in case 🎒
Given the situation, perhaps the most sensible thing is for Londoners to start carrying their own emergency kit in their backpack, alongside the umbrella and travel card. Because, according to TfL, a first aid kit with plasters and antiseptic is enough for a stabbing. Almost like selling band-aids to stop massive bleeding. Meanwhile, in Birmingham, buses already have the equipment. Here, it's about improvising or praying the driver knows how to tie a knot with a belt.