An A&E nurse has become one of the first in the country to start using a bulldog clip device to stop patients potentially bleeding to death.

Dave Fox-Dossett has already used the new iTClamp on two patients in the department at Eastbourne District General Hospital.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is one of only a handful of trusts in the UK to start using the life-saving equipment, which was developed in Canada in 2012.

The 5cm clamp can stop severe bleeding within seconds by sealing the edge of a wound, helping the blood to clot and stop flowing.

This reduces blood loss until the patient has had surgery or stitches.


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Mr Fox-Dossett, an emergency nurse practitioner, used the clamp in recent weeks to treat a patient with a severe cut to the hand and another who had a neck injury.

He said: “The clamp is like a bulldog clip that pulls the skin together and stops bleeding from an artery immediately.

“Both of the patients who I've used the clamp on were losing a significant amount of blood, and using it meant we could control the bleeding until they went into surgery.

“Being able to stop severe bleeding immediately can only be good for the patient and in turn should lead to a better outcome for them.”

Mr Fox-Dossett has been invited to speak at a conference in Germany next month to talk about the device.