Think Sharp Stay Sharp

Lancashire Constabulary and the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust were running a joint anti-knife crime education project in schools across the county. Although relatively successful, the project was resource hungry, relying on the availability of service staff to deliver consistent ‘on-site’ Powerpoint presentations, and it was felt that an improved delivery method was required.

I worked with them to produce a DVD package that could be distributed to all schools that could be used on a stand alone basis if service staff were not available to deliver in person. Filming took place over five days on location in Blackpool. The DVD was created with separate chapters for the police and ambulance service, each outlining their individual roles in a knife crime incident - enforcement, legal consequences, treatment, psychological and physical consequences of serious injury, including input from a senior trauma consultant from a local hospital, the wider implications of a fatal stabbing, etc.

We also filmed interviews with pupils from a local comprehensive school, which highlighted how little understanding many young people have about knife crime and its consequences, and the roles and responsibilities of those who have to deal with the often harrowing incidents.