Julie Taylor: Bleed packs

Today’s speaker was Julie Taylor, whose grandson was stabbed to death in a Writtle pub three years ago. She spoke most movingly of the effect it has had on her family, not only the lad’s immediate family but his grandparents and cousins as well. Some of them have had their lives completely ruined by the incident. Four people were arrested and three of them found guilty of murder and sent to prison.

Since then she has addressed many audiences, including schools, on knife crime and the terrible results of carrying knives. She is also promoting “bleed packs”. These packs were invented by a lady in Birmingham. They contain items for emergency use when someone has suffered a cut which is causing extensive bleeding. This may come not only from a stab wound but also accidental injuries such as a bad cut from broken glass.

The packs cost £102 each. To stop someone bleeding to death they need to be used within three minutes in order to control the bleeding long enough for medical professionals to arrive. They therefore need to be available in places where such problems could occur and carried in emergency response and other vehicles. She is trying to get them placed in pubs and police cars and held by street pastors and club door staff. They are now carried in Metropolitan Police cars but the Essex Police have yet to follow suit. Some Essex pubs have them but unfortunately one national chain declined to install them as they did not wish their staff to have the additional responsibility of using them in emergencies.

Julie did say that her grandson died instantly, so a bleed pack would not have saved him even if one had been available.