A campaign to place life-saving bleed control kits in every school in Wales has reached the desk of the new Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Education and the Welsh Language.
Labour councillor Shaun Greaney, who represents the Lliedi ward on Llanelli Town Council, has written to Anna Brychan MS asking her to commit to placing critical bleed control kits in every primary and secondary school in the country.
Each kit costs around £95 and contains military-grade equipment designed to help control major blood loss before emergency services arrive. The contents include a tourniquet, chest seal, haemostatic gauze, blunt-edged shears, gloves, a foil blanket, a resuscitation shield and a trauma fix bandage, along with a body map instruction card.
Cllr Greaney has argued that the kits should be treated as a basic safety tool in the same category as defibrillators, which are now widely deployed in schools and community settings across Wales.
“After all, as a society we shouldn’t be asking what price a child’s life,” he said. “I think the kits will be seen as a crucial safety tool in the same way that defibrillators are. Nothing is more precious than a child’s life. I sincerely hope the initiative is taken up before there is a preventable tragedy.”
Campaign with a track record
Cllr Greaney is no stranger to public access emergency equipment. In October last year, he used CPR skills learned on a town council course to revive an unconscious man in Stepney Street, reinforcing his long-running campaign to expand the availability of defibrillators and bleed kits across the town. In December, a new defibrillator was installed at a children’s play area in Bigyn as part of a wider Llanelli Town Council drive he has helped lead.
In February, campaigners called for bleed control kits to be installed in every Carmarthenshire school and outside public buildings across the county, warning that Carmarthenshire was falling behind its neighbours.
Those neighbours include Swansea, where more than 430 critical bleed control kits have now been installed — the highest number anywhere in Wales — in a rollout backed by Swansea Council and the charity Heartbeat Trust UK.
The local network behind the campaign
A network of councillors, businesses and charities has been steadily building bleed kit provision across the area. Former Llanelli paramedic and Labour county councillor Rob Evans, a GoodSam emergency responder, has been instrumental in securing ten kits for primary schools in the town, with funding from local businessman Paul Brookfield.
All registered kits appear on the national Bleed Map, a UK-wide database designed to allow members of the public to locate the nearest emergency bleed control kit as quickly as possible. The scheme in south Wales is led by the charity Heartbeat Trust UK, under its trustee Melanie James, a former High Sheriff of West Glamorgan. Welsh icon Max Boyce backed the rollout last year at the launch of a kit at Glynneath RFC.
Cllr Greaney has previously pushed for kits to be installed alongside defibrillators in existing community centre and park cabinets across Llanelli — a move backed by the town council during its previous Labour administration.
The Links donation
A kit has now been donated to Llanelli mental health charity Links, where it sits inside the defibrillator cabinet on Queen Victoria Road. Links general manager Michele Rees said the equipment was vital.
“Having this equipment readily available is vital, as rapid treatment of severe bleeding can help save lives before emergency services arrive,” she said.
The defibrillator at the Links cabinet was installed a couple of years ago following a fundraising drive by Cllr Greaney and the charity. Mrs Rees said it had been accessed three times since installation.
A test for the new Welsh Government
Cllr Greaney’s letter to Anna Brychan represents one of the earliest specific policy asks placed before the new Plaid Cymru-led Welsh Government on a school safety issue. First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has pledged that his administration will prioritise primary care and frontline services.
The Llanelli initiative also has the backing of Llanelli MP Dame Nia Griffith.
Members of the public can find their nearest registered bleed control kit using the UK Bleed Map at thebleedmap.com — a free online tool designed to help bystanders respond rapidly in the event of a serious bleeding emergency.
