Design for emergency response
Preventing catastrophic blood loss from knife wounds
As part of his final year project, Product Design and Technology student Joseph Bentley has designed a new method for rapidly stopping catastrophic blood loss from knife wounds.
REACT is a device that can be administered by first responding police officers while waiting for an ambulance. Joseph’s design – REACT, which stands for ‘rapid emergency actuated tamponade’ – is based on the principle of applying internal pressure to deal with stab wounds. The speed at which bleed prevention treatment is carried out is paramount to increasing the chances of survival.
In the year ending March 2019, 259 people were killed in the UK using a sharp instrument, including knives and broken bottles.
Joseph has created a 3D-printed semi-functional prototype, with working side and rear user interface, side LEDs, and actuator. The prototype is currently targeted at junctional wounds (such as those in the armpit and groin areas) and the abdomen – a location paramedics and emergency first aid professionals told Joseph is hard to treat during his project research. Joseph is now looking to further develop REACT – extending it to other wound locations on the body, making it internally battery-powered, and perfecting the required air pressure in the tamponade.
I know several friends who have been the unfortunate victims of knife crime, thankfully none of the incidents were fatal. The simple application and automated inflation procedure of the REACT system makes it a game-changer for first responders.
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