Swansea leads Wales with rollout of life-saving bleed control kits

Kits designed to save lives before paramedics arrive

The kits, which contain military-grade emergency medical supplies, are designed to help members of the public treat traumatic injuries before emergency services reach the scene.

They are now available in high-footfall locations including city and town centres, community hubs, council buildings, leisure centres, and all 14 of Swansea’s comprehensive schools.

Each CBC kit includes a tourniquet, haemostatic gauze, fox chest seal, traumafix dressing, gloves, foil blanket, and bilingual instruction card — all packed for rapid use in emergencies such as road accidents, workplace injuries, dog bites, or knife wounds.

Community-led initiative backed by council funding

The rollout was spearheaded by Melanie James, last year’s High Sheriff of West Glamorgan, who partnered with Heartbeat Trust UK to build the network.

Swansea Council has funded 100 of the kits and previously contributed nearly £200,000 to establish a city-wide defibrillator network — making Swansea the UK’s first “Defib-friendly City” with more than 650 defibrillators now in place.

Many of the new bleed control kits have been co-located with defibrillators to make them easy to find and access.

“You never want them used — but they save lives”

Melanie James said:

“I’m very grateful for the incredible support we’ve received from Swansea Council, our councillors, local businesses and private individuals. These kits have a universal application and contain clever supplies that will and do save lives.”

She added that free community training is available to help residents feel confident using the kits if needed.

Council praises partnership

Council Leader Rob Stewart said:

“I’m very grateful to Melanie and to Heartbeat Trust UK for all they are doing in making Swansea a safer place for everyone. The expansion of this scheme means more residents and visitors will have access to life-saving equipment when it is needed most.”

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New defibrillator installed at Llanelli play area as council tackles ‘defib desert’

The device, now active at Nightingale Court play area, has been registered on The Circuit, a national database that helps ambulance crews locate the nearest defibrillator in the event of a cardiac emergency.

Town councillor Shaun Greaney, who represents Lliedi ward, said the area had previously been a “defibrillator desert” — with no publicly accessible devices nearby.

“Every minute without treatment reduces the chance of survival by around 10 per cent,” he said. “We’ve seen tragic cases where cardiac arrests or critical bleeds could potentially have been survivable if help had been available immediately.”

The council says the new device is part of a broader push to improve emergency readiness across Llanelli.

“This Labour-led town council is spearheading a lifesaving safety drive,” Cllr Greaney added. “Early defibrillation, combined with CPR, can increase survival rates to 50–70 per cent if delivered within five minutes.”

National figures show survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests remain below 10 per cent — but experts say bystander CPR and rapid access to an AED (automated external defibrillator) can dramatically improve outcomes.

Council leader Cllr David Darkin said the council will begin offering free public training in the coming months, covering both defibrillator use and Critical Bleed Control Kits — specialist equipment designed to stop catastrophic bleeding.

“These kits are army-grade and invaluable in emergencies,” he said. “We’ll be rolling out training in community centres across Llanelli next year.”

Cllr Darkin praised Cllr Greaney for introducing the bleed control initiative to the council, and said it complements the town’s wider Sports, Youth and Activities programme, aimed at improving health and wellbeing outcomes for residents of all ages.

Cllr Gareth Lloyd, who represents Bigyn ward, said the new defibrillator was already being welcomed by local families.

“It’s a vital addition to the play area,” he said. “We’re proud to be making lifesaving equipment more accessible to the community.”

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