Western Daily Press (Saturday)

West factory saving lives in Ukraine with anti-bleed bandages

- HANNAH BAKER hannah.baker@reachplc.com

AHISTORIC Somerset company that makes antibleedi­ng fabric at its factory in Bridgwater says the product is helping “save lives” on the front line in Ukraine.

Technical fabric manufactur­er Nonwovenn, which has been based in the town since 1952, is producing the special bandages on behalf of medical dressings business Celox – a company owned by UK medical device firm Medtrade Products.

The bandages are coated with an extract from shrimp shells – known as chitosan – that can stem bleeding, and hundreds of thousands have been sent out to the war-torn country this year for use in military first aid kits.

Soldiers on the frontline can pack the bandages into bullet or shrapnel wounds and the clotting agents can stop bleeding as quickly as 60 seconds, according to

Nonwovenn, which said the fabric is able to buy “vital time” to get the injured to field hospitals. The 70-year-old business, which employs 230 staff in Somerset and has an annual revenue of £21m, has been producing the specialist bandages since 2012. However, following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February, the company ramped up production at its factory. The firm is among a number of Medtrade’s strategic partners involved in the production of Celox products being delivered to Ukraine since the war started.

Nonwovenn chairman David Lamb said: “Our Somerset team is part of a remarkable British success story which is saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians caught up in Europe’s worst conflict since the Second World War.”

As well as the Celox bandages, Nonwovenn’s Bridgwater factory also manufactur­es so-called “harm reduction products” for customers around the world, including activated carbon masks that safeguard workers building mobile phones for Samsung. It also produces similar masks for Deliveroo cyclists to stop them breathing in traffic pollution.

Other products made by the firm include undercast bandages used in making plaster casts for broken bones, for the NHS; and protective suits for security forces clients around the world.

Russ Mably, chief executive of Medtrade Products, added: “We are extremely proud of our response to the needs of the Ukrainian people and delighted with how Nonwovenn has from the start worked with us to deliver Celox to the people of Ukraine, and ultimately helped save lives.”

 ?? Roman Chop/AP ?? > Ukrainian soldiers change their position at an undisclose­d location in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, November 17
Roman Chop/AP > Ukrainian soldiers change their position at an undisclose­d location in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, November 17

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