Schoolchildren are being taught how to treat serious stab wounds after a wave of knife attacks in their city.
Their schools have been offered bleed kits containing pads, bandages and tourniquets so pupils can stem catastrophic blood loss before paramedics arrive.
It follows the fatal stabbing of two teenage boys and other knife attacks in Bristol.
The kits were a last-minute exhibit at a school’s forum, where campaigner Leanne Reynolds showed youngsters how to use the pads, bandages and tourniquets.
She has been promoting the kits since 2021 after the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Dontae Davis in a row between rival gangs in the east of the city.
She said: “There’s been a spike in serious violence. I’m a parent and I’m scared, so I’m trying to get these kits into schools and other organisations in Bristol and across the southwest.
“They could potentially save a life or limb before the ambulance gets there to take over.”
School friends Lila and Genevieve, both 15, watched a demonstration before practising wrapping bandages on each other.
Lila said: “It’s really scary (what’s happening), especially at such a young age. Problems like this always happen, but recently it’s been really bad.
“It’s insane that at 15 we’re learning how to treat stab wounds and having to think about this stuff.”
Genevieve said she was concerned that extra security measures at school were not always enough to stop the use of knives.
The kits could save a life or limb
She said: “Things probably will happen at school. There is a lack of security. They trust us to tell them things, but a lot of the time that isn’t going to happen and it goes unnoticed until the worst inevitably happens.
“There’s no real escape from it because almost every area has been affected by it in some way. It’s our age group so you can’t ignore it.
“I’m always thinking about where not to go to reduce the risk of being stabbed.”
Mason Rist and Max Dixon were stabbed to death in January. Pic: Family handout via Avon and Somerset Police/PA
Organisers of the annual schools summit in Bristol were keen to reassure pupils that the chances of becoming a knife victim were tiny, but that’s a difficult message to get across after the fatal stabbing on one January night of Max Dixon, 16, and Mason Rist, who was 15.
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Dan Norris, mayor of West of England, said: “They really do have to be very, very careful and that’s why we need to educate as well as provide things like bleed kits and training. We want to take the fear away from them.
“They’ve been very affected by all of the reports of instances of stabbings in our region over the last couple of years and particularly of late.
“The bleed kits are an unfortunate thing that we have to be talking about, but it’s something that young people are comfortable with, because they are worried.”
Five people, including a 14-year-old boy, have been charged with the murder of Max and Mason.
Source Agencies
