Since our beginnings as a defibrillator cabinet manufacturer 15 years ago, the Turtle team have always been innovators. Creating products our customers want and need. Finding solutions to emergency medical issues. Want an easily accessible public bleed kit and defib? Here’s our best-selling combined cabinet. No power at a popular public park? Have a look at our solar & wind powered defib cabinet. Multiple public defibs across a large area to keep an eye on? Consider DefibMonitor.
Over the next few blogs we will look at one of our relatively new products, the Enhanced PAcT kit, finding out what it is, why it was created, and where you might find/need one.
What is a PAcT kit?
Let’s cut to the chase. If you’re reading this then you want to know exactly what a PAcT kit is, both the acronym itself and the contents. Once you know what it is, you can start thinking about where you might need one in your community, workplace or sports/music venue.
PAcT is short for Public Access Trauma— a PAcT kit is a life-saving emergency kit designed to help members of the public control catastrophic bleeding before professional medical help arrives.
Put simply, a PAcT kit gives ordinary people the tools they need to stop someone from bleeding to death in those critical first minutes after a serious injury.
Race against Time
Severe bleeding can become fatal in as little as 3–5 minutes. In many emergencies — serious accidents, industrial incidents and road traffic collisions, as well as knife attacks — the first person on scene is not a paramedic, but a member of the public.
A PAcT kit bridges that gap.
Just as public access defibrillators (AEDs) are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest, PAcT kits are designed to treat uncontrolled bleeding, one of the leading preventable causes of death following trauma.
The Link to the Daniel Baird Foundation
Hang on, you might be thinking, haven’t I heard all this before? A public bleed kit to treat catastrophic bleeds before the emergency services arrive? Surely a PAcT kit is the same as a Daniel Baird Bleed kit?
You are right in that both kits share the central aim of keeping people alive following a catastrophic bleed until professional help arrives. Both kits also contain some shared components that are designed to slow down/stop critical bleeds: windlass tourniquet, large trauma dressing. (Our Enhanced PAcT kit actually goes further than a basic PAcT kit in that it mirrors the other core Daniel Baird kit components: haemostatic gauze, vented chest seal; but more of that later.)
The adoption of PAcT kits in the UK has undoubtedly been influenced by the work of the Daniel Baird Foundation, established after Daniel Baird was tragically killed in 2017 due to catastrophic bleeding and the absence of appropriate equipment nearby. The foundation has campaigned nationally to make public bleed-control kits as common and accepted as defibrillators — and PACT kits set to become a core part of that vision.
The key difference between the kits is actually scale. Whilst a Daniel Baird kit is designed for a single casualty/bleed victim, a PAcT kit can be used on multiple victims/bleeds.
When did we realise PAcT kits were needed?
On 22 May 2017, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the Manchester Arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert, killing 22 people and injuring hundreds more. The attack exposed serious gaps in emergency preparedness, including the lack of readily available trauma equipment to help treat catastrophic injuries in the crucial minutes before emergency services could respond.
Eyewitness accounts from the subsequent inquiry highlighted scenes where stewards and members of the public used makeshift materials — such as clothing and merchandise — to try to control bleeding wounds because proper equipment wasn’t available at the scene.
Whilst we cannot accurately predict random acts of terrorism or violence, we can prepare for such incidents by providing the public with the tools they need to keep people alive before the professionals arrive.
What is the link between PAcT kits and Martyn’s Law?
In the aftermath of the Manchester Arena attack, the mother of victim Martyn Hett, Figen Murray OBE, began campaigning for better safety standards for public venues to protect against terrorism and other mass-casualty incidents. Her advocacy focused on ensuring that venues not only had security measures in place but also practical tools and plans to reduce harm if an incident occurred.
This campaign eventually led to the development of new legislation known as Martyn’s Law (officially the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025). The law received Royal Assent in April 2025 and introduces legal duties for venues and organisations responsible for public spaces to take proportionate steps to protect the public — including planning, training, emergency response measures, and making trauma-response resources available.
Development of Public Access Trauma (PAcT) Kits
In response to the gaps exposed by the Manchester Arena inquiry, public safety and counter-terrorism bodies — including the National Counter Terrorism Security Office (NaCTSO) in collaboration with medical and emergency response experts — began promoting the concept of Public Access Trauma (PAcT) kits. These kits are designed to give the public access to professional-grade trauma equipment such as tourniquets, large wound dressings, and other supplies that can help control life-threatening bleeding and stabilise severe injuries until emergency services arrive.
PAcT kits were explicitly created to bridge the “care gap” identified in large-scale incidents — the critical period between the event and when trained responders can reach casualties — by placing trauma resources in areas where large crowds gather (e.g., arenas, transport hubs, public venues).
After having a good look at the minimum requirements for a PAcT kit, here at Turtle we used our knowledge and experience of the Daniel Baird bleed kit to create our ‘Enhanced’ PAcT kit, because, quite frankly, minimum is not good enough when it comes to saving lives.
What is in our Enhanced PAcT Kit?
So here’s what we put in our PAcT kits, knowing what we do about critical bleeds. The same military/medical grade items you find in a Daniel Baird kit, just more of them. So when you’re faced with a multiple injury scene, you don’t have to choose who to save.
Life-Saving Medical Equipment:
- 1 x Celox Haemostatic Gauze – Effectively stops severe bleeding.
- 1 x Foxseal Vented Chest Seal – Essential for treating open chest wounds.
- 2 x Code Red Windlass Tourniquets – Critical for controlling major limb bleeding.
- 4 x Large Trauma Dressings – Provides protection and pressure to wounds.
Essential Emergency Tools:
- 2 x Medical Shears/Scissors – Quickly cut through clothing and bandages.
- 2 x CPR Face Shields – Ensures safe mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
- 2 x Foil Blankets – Keeps patients warm and prevents shock.
- 2 x Triangular Bandages – For arm immobilization or wound dressing.
Personal Protection & Support:
- 2 x PPE Packs (Gloves, Goggles, Face Mask) – Protects the rescuer during treatment.
- 2 x PAcT Kit Aide Memoires – Quick reference guides for untrained users.
Where Are PAcT Kits Found?
So now you know what PAcT kits are, let’s take a look at where they could save lives. They might have been inspired by a terrorist attack at a large music venue, but as we all know, multiple injury scenes can and do occur anywhere. From sporting events to shopping centres, places of education or worship, transport hubs or leisure attractions. Public Access Trauma Kits can provide peace of mind anywhere there are large gatherings of people.
PAcT kits are increasingly being installed in:
Town and city centres
Pubs, clubs, and nightlife areas
Shopping centres and supermarkets
Schools, colleges, and universities
- Sports/Music venues including football stadiums and leisure arenas
Transport hubs
Construction sites and workplaces
Community buildings
Inside or alongside defibrillator cabinets
They are usually stored in clearly marked cabinets and are intended for emergency public use only.
Who Can Use a PAcT Kit?
Anyone.
You do not need to be a medical professional. PAcT kits are designed to be used by members of the public, with clear instructions and equipment already proven in emergency and military medicine.
Organisations (including Turtle Medical) also offer bleed-control training, which increases confidence and effectiveness — but even without training, using a PAcT kit is far better than doing nothing.
Be Prepared with PAcT Kits
To summarise, a PAcT kit is:
A Public Access Trauma kit
Designed to control life-threatening bleeding
Easy for the public to use
Designed to be placed in public spaces
A proven way to save lives when seconds matter
Just like defibrillators, PAcT kits represent a shift toward community-led emergency response — where ordinary people are given the tools to do extraordinary things.
Interested in preparing your community/venue for the unexpected? Find out more about the Turtle Enhanced PAcT kit here.
