Public urged to learn first aid in case of terror attack

A new app showing how to provide medical assistance in the event of a terrorist attack has won the backing of national security agencies.

CitizenAID demonstrates simple first aid with a focus on the skills most likely to be needed after a bombing or a mass shooting, such as applying a tourniquet.

It has been developed by experts at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham, which specialises in combat wounds such as gunshot and blast injuries.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Contributor Sir Keith Porter, one of the UK's foremost experts in clinical traumatology, says rapid action from members of the public could make a life-saving difference in the event of a terrorist event.

"I have treated hundreds of soldiers whose lives have been saved by simply the applications of tourniquets when they have been shot or blown up," he told the BBC.

"Teaching individual soldiers these skills has saved lives and I think it is essential we train the public in those skills and that is exactly what CitizenAID does."

Official advice for people caught up in a terrorist attack is the "run, hide, tell" strategy - run from the incident, hide if this is not possible and tell the emergency services.

However, the apps creators believe that once the danger is over, those who are unharmed can give basic medical attention to the injured before the emergency services arrive.

Chief Inspector Richard Harding, head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said the agency was "really interested" in CitizenAID.

As first responders' priority at an incident is securing the scene, they "won't have time to deal with the people who are injured", he said, adding: "That gap is vital to saving people's lives."

MI5 currently rates the terror threat to the UK as "severe", meaning an attack is highly likely, but Harding stressed the risk of becoming involved in an attack was still "very rare".