Taxi Driver Online

Exeter taxi cabs to carry 'life-saving' bandages



Taxi drivers in Exeter have been given military-grade emergency bandages designed to prevent serious blood loss in the event of an injury.

Sixty red and black taxi cabs in Exeter support the initiative, each with a green sticker to show they have a kit.

The aim of the initiative is to allow passers-by to flag down a taxi and grab a bandage in the event of an emergency.

The bandage kits were donated by charity Rapaid, founded by Alex Chivers who went to school in Exeter.

The rollout in Exeter follows successful campaigns in Manchester, Oxford and Swindon - with hundreds of taxi cabs now carrying the bandage kits.

Mr Chivers, a former police firearms officer and military veteran, said: "With a serious haemorrhage you can bleed to death in under five minutes - time literally does save lives.

"I knew that a solution had to be simple enough for the untrained public and be quickly and easily accessible to find in those initial few moments.

"It made perfect sense to use the same pressure bar bandages designed for soldiers on the battlefield - these bandages are carried worldwide by the military and emergency services and will stem serious blood loss in those vital first minutes until help arrives.

"It's fantastic to be able to donate these bandage bags into Exeter where I grew up and went to school."

The initiative was also welcomed by Devon and Cornwall Police.

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IDFIMH

Where does it stop?

Do we start carrying oxygen cans, resuscitators, splints?

I suspect many of us already have something in the car that can be used in a similar way to these 'emergency' bandages, it's called gaffa tape.

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IDFIMH

Ah, but recall that last time round he said taxis should carry them in case police need them, and then police can flag a taxi down

Well indeed, the stuff in this news report seems all very well, but take his argument to its logical conclusion and we'd need to carry stuff like defibrillators and lifebelts as well as all the above

I know, let's retrain as nurses, paramedics or doctors instead, if we're going to be expected to do all of that

And where do they always find these daftie drivers who are gushing support for stuff like this? I suspect most would tell them to, er, go away. Very politely, of course

(This old video and the post about the bleed kits in Glocs are purely coincidental - actually came across this video by accident while trying to work out if all Exeter 'taxis' are really 5-door )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6P_UdR2zgM

I forgot about the naloxone, though - about time I restocked

To be fair, I'm maybe being a bit harsh - the nitrile gloves supplied with the bandage kits would come in useful for changing the engine oil