REACT device offers hope for victims of knife attacks

News

Knife attack victims could be saved with REACT, a new method for rapidly stopping blood loss from a knife wound.

REACT, developed by Joseph Bentley, a final year Product Design and Technology student at Loughborough University, is designed for use by first responding police officers while waiting for an ambulance.

A victim of a stabbing can bleed to death in just five minutes, so the priority for first responders is to control bleeding from the wound.

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Police officers are often the first emergency personnel to arrive at a scene, so the speed at which they administer bleed prevention treatment is paramount to increasing the chances of survival.

Applying internal pressure is key when dealing with stab wounds and REACT - Rapid Emergency ACtuated Tamponade - is based on this principle.

Impaled objects should not be removed from stab wounds as they apply internal pressure, but in cases where the wound is open, emergency responders could use the REACT device, which is comprised of a medical-grade silicone sleeve (the tamponade) and a handheld actuator.

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