How a bespoke tactical medical bag is helping Firearms Teams improve patient treatment in the City of London
Evaluating the effectiveness of a multi-purpose, customised medical bag design, to enhance efficiency, improve flexibility, and aid trauma care across the City of London.
In the Spring of 2023, the CorrMed team worked with the firearms team at the City of London Police (CoLP) to design and manufacture a bespoke medic bag that would better serve the force. Having originally met the team at the Trauma Care Conference in 2022, they were struggling to find a suitable market option that came in an appropriate size, and aligned with the training protocols of the police force.
The bag needed to be suitable to carry the medical equipment that is used in accordance with their D13 training, rather than those designed for paramedics or other emergency medical teams. Initially, the team was unsure whether to make the best of an off-the shelf solution, or whether to go down the bespoke route. They decided a bespoke bag design was the best option.
The brief was to create a fit-for purpose bag to carry their medical kit, one that enabled all kit to be carried in one bag, wasn’t too big, had clear sections to separate their kit and allowed them to work through their primary survey whilst having kit laid out in an efficient manner. As well as consulting with teams at CoLP, CorrMed also consulted more widely with other police forces to ensure the design of the bag would accommodate the various sizes and quantities of kit used across different forces, along with the different primary surveys. These police forces included Avon and Somerset, West Mercia, West Midlands and Gloucestershire Constabulary.
Based on our research and extensive field testing, it was found that during high stress situations, when mental bandwidth is often strained, quick, visible, and easy access to equipment is essential for frontline medics. Following feedback from CoLP during this phase, we made the cat bleed pouch accessible from a pocket on the outside of the bag. To further support human factors and enhance functionality within time critical environments, we made all remaining pouches within the bag colour coded with clear lids and quick release finger tabs.
Our research highlighted two different approaches to trauma assessment, as well as two common layouts for equipment. Some police forces carry all their medical kit within one bag, and some split kit between two bags, this is commonly seen with O2 bottles. Similarly, some forces are trained with CABCDE, whilst others with MARCH. While there are some shared needs to these two approaches, the storage of equipment and labelling of pouches needs to be adapted to best suit the force’s preferred protocol.
Further research with the Counter Terrorism Police from West Midlands Police, revealed for those teams, a second pouch positioned internally for catastrophic haemorrhage was needed, this provides access to two full kits within one bag, adding value in multi casualty incidents as the equipment can be instantly split between two medics.
What’s more, the interior of the bag features a dedicated pouch system with pouches assigned to each section of the primary survey and colour coded for ease of identification. There are ID windows on each pouch for labels to be inserted e.g. Airways, Circulation etc and an space for QR codes/Barcodes to assist with tracking medical kit. The pouches can be labelled to follow either CABCDE or MARCH as required. Not printing on the pouches, ensures the bag is future proofed should a force change which primary survey they are trained in.
To further support human factors, both the Catastrophic Haemorrhage and Airways pouch have been designed so each piece of equipment has its own designated place, supporting rapid access to vital tools and saving medics precious time and energy.
Dave J, Close Protection Coordinator, City of London Police says: "The new tactical bag has been a practical and reliable addition to our kit, helping us stay prepared in a variety of situations. It’s been deployed in challenging scenarios and has stood up well, proving to be both durable and effective. The layout is particularly helpful as it makes restocking faster and keeps everything organised so we can quickly check batch numbers and expiry dates without needing to unpack everything. Having our equipment ready and easy to access makes a real difference out in the field."
