Bleed control kit rollout plan for Cornish schools
BBCA charity set up to remember a man murdered in a stabbing outside a Bodmin nightclub is supporting a plan to install bleed control kits in every Cornish school.
Michael's Initiative for Knifecrime Education in Society (Mikes Trust) said the work being carried out by another charity, Front Line Emergency Equipment Trust (Fleet), as well as Duchy Defibrillators and Bleed Control Cornwall was "impressive".
The charity was set up after Michael Riddiough-Allen, 32, was killed by Jake Hill, 25, outside Eclipse Nightclub in 2023.
There are now bleed kits containing bandages, tourniquets and gloves in 270 defibrillator cabinets around the county. Next, is to distribute kits to all schools and colleges.
Hill also injured four others with a serrated hunting knife he had hidden in a nearby hedge after the venue closed.
Mr Riddiough-Allen intervened in a bid to prevent Hill from injuring others but suffered a fatal wound to his abdomen and died at the scene.
Hill was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years.
Mr Riddiough-Allen's family has set up Mikes Trust to educate young people about knife crime.
Speaking in Bodmin, where a final bleed control kit was being installed in a Duchy Defibrillators cabinet, Mr Riddiough-Allen's father, Kevin Allen, said his son had "died trying to make a difference so we also try to make a difference".
He said while Mr Riddiough-Allen's injuries were so severe even "fully immediate, fully prepared medical intervention" would not have saved him, others could be helped by bleed control kits.
"On that night, the first person to be stabbed without doubt would have died had there not been a quick response from one of the Eclipse nightclub door staff who immediately put pressure on the wound.
"So it really shows how critical those first few minutes can be and how something like these bleed kits can make a difference,' he said.
Duchy Defibrillators, Bleed Control Cornwall and Fleet said their collaboration was equipping residents and visitors with the tools needed to respond effectively to all sorts of bleeding emergencies, not just stabbings.
Mark Fuszard, from Bleed Control Cornwall, said every piece of of the kit could be used by "somebody that's not done any kind of first aid training at all".
"Any member of the public, any bystander, should not be afraid to use what's in there on somebody who has got a catastrophic bleed," he said.
Funded by Fleet, general manager Christian Brown said they hoped to rollout the kits into the defibrillator cabinets in Cornish schools over the summer.
"We have a group of willing volunteers who run the London Marathon every year and we raised enough this year to fund kits for every school and college in the county," he said.