ACT Medical is revolutionising the management of penetrating trauma.

Our founder, Joseph Bentley, developed REACT during his final year at Loughborough University, after seeing the suffering caused by knife crime. The potential to solve this challenge and save thousands of lives led to the creation of ACT Medical.

ACT Medical is a MedTech start-up looking to revolutionise the standard of care for penetrative trauma and reduce the mortality rates associated with violent crime.

“Two of my friends were stabbed on the streets of London”

Our Story

Haemorrhage following traumatic injury is the leading cause of death in Americans under the age of 46 1

Globally, nearly 1.5 million deaths occur every year due to violence induced uncontrolled haemorrhaging2. In most cases, mortality from trauma is caused by haemorrhage induced hypovolemic shock, the treatment for this is to stop the bleeding as soon as possible1. In Central regions of the USA 3, it takes an average of 16 minutes to travel to the nearest hospital, but only 5 minutes for a victim to bleed to death 4. Consequently, half of all violent trauma related deaths occur before the patient is able to reach definitive care 5. Generally, the public or police first responders on the scene will have tried to limit as much blood-loss as possible, though they are very rarely equipped to do this successfully.

Equipping first responders saves lives

Providing first responders with a method of applying direct pressure to the wound site would drastically reduce the trauma mortality rate. This method needs to be intuitive, without knowledge of complex techniques such as wound packing, and easy to remove once the patient reaches surgery. ACT Medical are designing a device that directly addresses this need and aims to stem bleeding as quickly as current methods.

“This type of problem-solving invention shows the significant impact engineers can have on serious, global issues, and is why I created the James Dyson Award.”

— Sir James Dyson, presenting his International Award to ACT Medical in 2021

Introducing the B.O.B

ACT Medical have developed the Balloon Occlusive Barrier. A single-use, purely mechanical device that can be inserted into a wound, and expanded to provide direct internal pressure. The B.O.B is designed to be a temporary method of reducing blood loss, allowing stabilisation of a patient ready for transport to definitive care.

The device is designed to not require manual pressure application after deployment, this would reduce the treatment time and multiply the capabilities of each medic.

Once undergoing damage control surgery, the B.O.B is designed to be quickly removed, with minimal wound bed damage.

To learn more about the B.O.B please contact us at: hello@actmedical.co.uk

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  • 1. Donley, E. and Loyd, J. (2022). Hemorrhage Control. StatPearls Publishing. PMID: 30571014.

    2. Spahn, D. et al. (2013). Management of bleeding and coagulopathy following major trauma: an updated European guideline. 17(2):R76. doi: 10.1186/cc12685. PMID: 23601765

    3. Survey of U.S. adults conducted Sept. 24 – Oct. 7, 2018, and Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data.

    4. Stop the Bleed (2022). Stop the Bleed [online]. Homeland Security. Available at: https://www.dhs.gov/stopthebleed (Accessed 7th October 2022)

    5. Kauvar, David S. MD; Lefering, Rolf PhD; Wade, Charles E. PhD. (2006). Impact of Hemorrhage on Trauma Outcome: An Overview of Epidemiology, Clinical Presentations, and Therapeutic Considerations. The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care: Volume 60 - Issue 6 - p S3-S11 doi: 10.1097/01.ta.0000199961.02677.19