CitizenAID team calls for terrorism first-aid training

A team of senior military and civilian medics who created the counter-terror app CitizenAID, has said people need to learn lifesaving skills in case they are caught up in a terror attack in the UK.

The team advised that people need to know how to help each other as, in the even of an attack, it could be some time before it is deemed safe for paramedics to arrive on the scene.

The idea is supported by counter-terrorism police and comes as security services say a UK terror attack is highly likely.

The app suggests best practice for dealing with injuries in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting or bombing incident, including instructions on how stem severe bleeding.

Ch Insp Richard Harding, head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, told the BBC: "One of the challenges we have is that when a serious incident, particularly a terrorist incident occurs, the first responders from a police perspective to a terrorist incident will inevitably be trying to deal with the people causing the threat.

"They won't have time to deal with the people who are injured and that gap is vital to saving people's lives.

"So we are really interested in the concept of CitizenAID. It allows the public and people involved in very rare incidents like this to help themselves and help others and their loved ones survive the situation."

In an interview with the BBC, Brig Tim Hodgetts, medical director of the Defence Medical Services, said: ”We don't know when the next incident will be that will involve blasts or gunshots so we need a critical mass of the general public to learn these first aid skills.

"They are the people who are always going to be at the scene. They are the ones who are going to make a difference. I think we are doing the opposite of scaring the public, we are empowering the public.

"By giving them a step-by-step system we take away the anxiety because the decisions are already made and the right decisions in the right order can save lives."