Cardiff trauma pack
YouTube video about the Cardiff trauma packs.
Developing a first-response kit packed with life-saving equipment for police officers to use at the scene of a road accident.
Isolated highways, wandering wildlife, drink-drivers and careless pedestrians make driving on Namibia’s roads extremely dangerous.
The problem costs around 650 lives every year – all in a country with a population smaller than Wales.
The numbers shocked Phoenix Project leader and clinical innovator Professor Judith Hall, who has worked with Cardiff Metropolitan University and industry partner BCB International to create the Cardiff Trauma Pack.
The University of Namibia is delighted [to be] working alongside Cardiff University and our police forces in this important drive for road safety. This new, easy to use, affordable trauma pack will help save the lives of our citizens.
Essential equipment
The pack includes items required for treating casualties at the scene such as bandages, tourniquets, leg and arm splints, neck braces, a blanket and even a canvas stretcher.
Also included is an easy-to-understand instruction booklet which makes use of simple diagrams to convey information.
Saving lives
The pack was initially developed in Zambia through Judith’s Mothers of Africa charity, before she adapted it for Namibia to save lives in the post-accident ‘golden hour’.
Police officers are often the first people at the scene of crashes but many had little or no first responder training or suitable equipment.
Welsh NHS doctors have now trained more than 200 Namibian police and 100 ambulance officers to keep people alive using the low-cost equipment in the packs.
Officers are being equipped with packs on a trial basis and it is hoped the project will ultimately be rolled out across the whole country.
The packs and the training have been described by Superintendent Cillie Auala, of Windhoek City Police, as a great initiative that will play a “significant role in ensuring that many lives are saved”.
The trauma packs will save lives because too many people are dying following crashes on Namibia’s roads. These police officers have been equipped to carry out basic life-saving techniques until medical help arrives at the scene.