App aims to help people save lives during a terrorist attack

SECURITY experts are urging people to learn life-saving skills in case they are caught up in a terrorist attack.
People carrying Turkish flags gather at the scene of the nightclub New Year's Day attack, in Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.
AP Photo/Emrah Gurel TURKEY_Nightclub_175289.JPGPeople carrying Turkish flags gather at the scene of the nightclub New Year's Day attack, in Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017.
AP Photo/Emrah Gurel TURKEY_Nightclub_175289.JPG
People carrying Turkish flags gather at the scene of the nightclub New Year's Day attack, in Istanbul, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017. AP Photo/Emrah Gurel TURKEY_Nightclub_175289.JPG

A team from CitizenAID have developed a new app which gives people advice on how to perform vital first aid techniques.

Experts say that during a terror attack the priority of the emergency services is to deal with the threat – not provide immediate medical treatment for the wounded.

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Richard Harding, head of the national counter terrorism security office, has backed the idea and is urging people to download the app.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Harding said: ‘The first responders to that incident from a police perspective will inevitably be trying to deal with the people causing the threat.

‘They won’t have time to help people who have been injured and we know that that gap is vital for saving people’s lives, so we’re really, really interested in the work of CitizenAID.’

Advice offered by the app includes step-by-step instructions on how to create a tourniquet, as well as stemming heavy bleeding from things like gunshot wounds.

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It also urges people to try and get to safety first before providing first aid.

It comes after a number of public terror attacks across Europe which have left dozens dead.

The latest took place on New Year’s Eve at a nightclub in Istanbul.

An Islamist extremist armed with an AK-47 assault rifle, went on a shooting rampage which left 39 dead.

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The attacker is reported to have shouted ‘Alluha Akbar’ before firing at party-goers in the packed-out nightclub.

So-called Islamic State have taken responsibility for the attack, which left a further 69 people injured.

The suspected gunman is still on the run and security services across Europe remain on high alert. Five other people have been arrested in connection with the attack.

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