The installation of a bleed control community cabinet on Peckham High Street has still not happened, after campaigners launched an application in November.
Community cabinets are publicly accessible bleed control kits, which can be used to stem the flow of blood from catastrophic wounds until an ambulance arrives.
The location of each community cabinet is logged with the Ambulance Service and no training is required to use the device, as the emergency services will talk the user through every step of the way. The community kit contains simple, easy-to-use equipment which can be used to seal, stem and dress wounds anywhere on the body.
“We’ve raised the money and paid for it, said Lisa Pearson, an East Dulwich resident and spokesperson for Let The Youth Live, one of the organisations behind the project. “It is ready to be installed. You think it would be simple. We are not asking for any money,” she added.
During this time, Lisa claims a number of stabbings have taken place in Peckham including one killing after a November knife fight. She says the more kits that are available, along with raising awareness of them could save lives.
“Right now there is nothing in the community to keep people alive when they are catastrophically bleeding,” Lisa said. “What we are doing is empower the community to get involved and help save somebody’s life.”
Alongside having difficulty getting in touch with people and raising the money, which she said is “hard enough”, Lisa believed “a lot of back and forth” at Southwark Council was to blame.
She claims to have been bogged down by multiple levels of complex council bureaucracy, alongside not receiving enough support with the application process.
Cllr Evelyn Akoto, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, said: “The benefit of bleed control cabinets is clear. We are fully behind Ms Pearson’s plans to install a cabinet in Peckham and remain in contact with her about next steps.”
“They would be a very welcome tool at residents’ disposal,” she added.
For any community cabinet to be installed in the local area, it is necessary to obtain insurance, licensing and risk assessments – all of which is the applicant’s responsibility.
The first community cabinet was installed outside the Tesco Express on East Dulwich Road in November. “It took six months and a lot of effort,” said Lisa.
Let the Youth Live are looking to extend the scheme across London – which they say is “extremely behind” – by putting community cabinets in every borough. They have plans to install additional kits in Camberwell, Brixton, Peckham and the Old Kent Road.
“Every street should have them,” said Lisa.
Problems with installing community cabinets in Peckham has meant Lisa is now reluctant to work with the council on future projects and instead will be looking to the private sector.
“I thought going to the council would be easier. No-one has helped, there’s been no clarity and I have constantly had to chase things up.”
Community cabinets not only stem the flow of blood for stab or gunshot wounds. They can be used for road traffic or workplace accidents.
In London it takes an ambulance an average of seven minutes to reach a major emergency, while a person with a severe trauma can bleed to death in three minutes.
“These cabinets are vital in bridging this gap and ensuring people do not die on the street,” said Let the Youth Live in a statement.
Around 250 community cabinets have been put up in the UK, with only a handful of these in London.
The project was started by the Daniel Baird Foundation Charity, which was set up by Lynne Baird, whose son was fatally stabbed in 2017.
In the year ending 2020 there were around 46,000 offences involving knives or sharp instruments in England & Wales.
Lisa said that community cabinets were vital for keeping young people alive in the short term, while deeper solutions, like getting laws changed, were found. “Far too many of our young people are dying,” said Lisa.
“It cannot continue like this.”
If you would like to find out more about this project visit www.controlthebleed.org.uk/
Donations to the campaign for bleed control community cabinets in London can be made at: www.gofund.me/4d04c92a