Device that rapidly stops blood loss from stab wounds wins UK Dyson Award

The tool inflates an implantable medical-grade silicone balloon tamponade into the wound tract, effectively filling the cavity and preventing internal bleeding

A 22-year-old has won this year’s UK James Dyson Award for designing a potentially life-saving device to help stem bleeding from knife wounds.

Stab victims can bleed to death in just five minutes, so the priority for emergency personnel is to stop excessive blood loss.

Paramedics have wound pack kits that they use to treat stab victims but police are usually first on the scene and do not currently have the rapid and accessible tools required to prevent catastrophic blood loss, according to research by device maker Joseph Bentley.

His React device, which stands for Rapid Emergency Actuating Tamponade, aims to help police treat knife wounds while waiting for medical assistance to arrive.

“Knife crime is a topic that is personal to me, as two of my friends were victims of knife related incidents,” the product design graduate from Essex said.

“Thankfully both incidents were not fatal, but this is often not the case for so many others.

“Seeing the profound effect that it had on my friends and their families urged me to try and create a solution that could help others in the future.”

The tool inflates an implantable medical-grade silicone balloon tamponade into the wound tract, effectively filling the cavity and preventing internal bleeding.

Mr Bentley said current wound management techniques, such as tightly packing with gauze, can be slow, technical, and extremely painful for the victim.

He claims that his prototype could potentially be in place and stop haemorrhage in under a minute, and estimates it could save hundreds of lives a year.

Published: 25/08/2021 by Radio NewsHub