DEVON and Cornwall Police, along with police forces across England and Wales, are being supplied with Parabag equipment to support them in providing an initial response to victims of corrosive (acid) attacks and other incidents involving hazardous chemicals.

The initiative began with West Midlands Police, who worked with UK emergency medical supply specialists, SP Services, of Telford, to put together the equipment to respond to an attack to minimise injury to members of the public.

The Parabag contains six 500ml bottles of water, two pairs of chemical gloves, two face masks, two pairs of safety goggles and a special bottleshower with a spray adaptor to ‘shower’ water over a victim’s skin – a more effective way of diluting a corrosive liquid and delivering a continuous flow of water than simply tipping water straight from a bottle.

A prototype bag was initially developed by SP Services and demonstrated to officers at the National CBRN Centre in Coventry which provides guidance to the emergency services for resilience in chemical, biological, radiation and nuclear attacks.

The kitbags feature the national ‘Remove’ campaign message highlighting the need to remove victims from the contaminated environment, remove outer clothing and directions on how to remove the contaminant from skin by rinsing continuously with water.

Sergeant Scott Howard from West Midlands Police said he searched for a suitable medical equipment supplier who could create a bespoke solution.

‘We want to be prepared to respond effectively if we are called upon to reduce injury to the public.

‘Other forces have created in-house solutions to an acid attack for some months which includes large bottles of water.

Following evaluation we decided a flexible, agile and scalable kit was more suited to our needs, particularly when deployed by specialist teams where space is at a premium in vehicles,’ he said.

‘Officers will likely need to have a hand free to deal with whatever is happening in such a situation.

‘SP Services already had an emergency burns kit so when I contacted them they said they could adapt that kit to just what we wanted.’

A total of 200 kits have now been deployed to police forces across the UK after 320 were distributed across the West Midlands in May.