McDonald’s fits life-saving bleed control kits to combat knife crime epidemic after campaign by mum

LIFE-SAVING bleed control kits have been installed at McDonald's restaurants in the UK following a campaign by a mum who lost her son to knife crime.

Lynne Baird, 62, who lost her son Daniel, 26, when he bled to death after being stabbed outside The Forge Tavern in Digbeth, Birmingham, launched a drive to get the special kits installed at venues across the country.

She said: "I started thinking about setting up a foundation on the same day as Dan's death as I just couldn’t make sense of it.

“His brother was actually a doctor at the hospital he was taken to. I kept asking why. The problem was nobody knew what to do.

“I just couldn't understand why blood control isn't covered in basic first aid.

“An ambulance usually arrives in 7 minutes but you can bleed to death between 3 and 5 minutes."

The kits contain specialist equipment to help stem extreme blood loss before ambulance crews arrive and the idea is modelled on how public defibrillators work.

Inside the life-saving kits is everything needed to stem a bleeding wound including pressure dressings, gauze bandages and tourniquets and they cost between £70 to £150.

Three McDonald’s venues in Birmingham have them so far and there are plans for more to be installed in restaurants and bars in other parts of the country.

The City of London has also confirmed plans for the equipment to be installed at many bars and restaurants across the area by October.

BLOOD ON THE STREETS

Ms Baird, who was left heartbroken by the death of her son, said: "I was just amazed when I got the call that three McDonald's would stock blood control kits.

“But it’s still not moving fast enough.

"There are defibrillators everywhere but if you have lost half your blood, these won't work.

“As the chief executive at the West Midlands Ambulance Service said, blood control kits should be as commonplace as fire extinguishers."

Since Daniel’s death, the mother-of-eight has dedicated herself to preventing more knife deaths.

Daniel had just passed his final interview for a new job at Jaguar Land Rover and had planned to marry and get a house with partner Gemma.

But he was knifed outside a bar where an altercation broke out between another drinker and one of Daniel's friends.

Bob Beckett, a McDonald's franchisee, launched the kits in his Upper Gornal restaurant last Friday.

Mr Beckett runs two other McDonald's in the Midlands area and has bought kits for these restaurants as well.

At the launch on Friday, Ms Baird said that she would ask all McDonald's to stock the kits as the fast food chains are usually located on high streets and there is always the possibility of a stabbing, shooting or a road accident nearby, particularly in Birmingham.

McDonald's said it is up to individual franchise owners whether they wanted to stock the kits but it is hoped they will have a positive impact on communities.

Ms Baird told The Sun Online: “Dudley is a shining example of a McDonald's restaurant taking into account anything that could happen in the area.

“A person could lose blood in a workplace accident, a car accident or a violent incident.

“It is worthwhile and it could save lives.”

The launch comes as police forces reveal 43,516 offences involving knives or sharp objects happened in the year to March, the highest since comparable records began in 2011 when the figure was 30,400. 86 people have been killed in stabbings in London alone since the start of 2019.