BOUNCERS in the city are being trained to respond to stabbings following an increase in knife crime.

Alex Wickens, from Southampton, has launched a Stop the Bleed campaign to give doormen trauma kits and training.

His efforts come after three stabbings were reported in the city in the past two months, two of which near clubs and bars in Bedford Place.

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The 37-year-old is a firearms officer and has used his knowledge to come up with trauma kits and train people in how to use them.

He said: "Jema (director of security company Synergy Security) was saying how many stabbings the doormen get, and it got me doing some research. In London, they use kits, but you wouldn't know how to use them just by looking at them. You need training.

"The kits are to deal with catastrophic and major bleeding. It is my own kit from my own experience and what works, and includes things the police and military use."

Alex's kit includes a celox z-fold bandage which "forms a clot, absorbs moisture and stops the bleeding within seconds".

It also includes a tourniquet for wounds that involve an amputation or stab an artery, and a chest seal for puncture wounds to the chest.

One of the kits, worth £200, has been rolled out across Southampton.

He is hoping to get half a dozen more kits into nightclubs and bars.

The project has been funded by the clubs staffed by Synergy Security - Buddha Lounge, Tokyo, and Orange Rooms.

Alex has also applied for council funding for the campaign, as part of his Frontline First Aid business, and hopes to get half a dozen more kits dotted around venues.

He added: "There have been cuts to ambulance and police services. Jema was saying that it can be 20 minutes before an ambulance or police get to an incident, which is quite a lot of time if it's all kicking off.

"If an artery has been cut, you only have a few minutes to do something about it.

"It's to give people the training and equipment needed for these situations."

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