Police constables in Sadiq Khan’s London are receiving devices designed for war zones so they can treat acid attack victims on the streets.
The ‘bottleshower’ is a specialised bottle top attachment, created by designer Tim Jeffrey in 2015, which currently sees use on battlefields and in Middle Eastern refugee camps and will now see service on the streets of London, the Evening Standard reports.
It fastens to the top of the five-litre water bottles carried by police in case they are summoned to the scene of an acid attack, turning it into a kind of showerhead and slowing the flow of water so that it can pour for around four and a half minutes, where it would normally empty in seconds.
“When a person receives injuries from corrosive substances it is imperative that the injuries are treated as soon as possible by pouring water over the injuries,” explained a spokesman for the Met.
“The best way to administer water to the injury is by a long continuous flow rather than simply pouring water over a victim.”
Police admitted that the British capital has become a global capital for acid attacks towards the end of 2017, with hundreds of “corrosive liquid” offences carried out every year.
“The UK now has one of the highest rates of recorded acid and corrosive substance attacks per capita in the world and this number appears to be rising,” confessed Assistant Chief Constable Rachel Kearton, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) lead on acid attacks.
Breitbart London reported that 739 total corrosive liquid related offences were logged for 2017 up to November, with police classifying 411 of them as violent — an increase of 186 per cent on the previous year.
Delivery drivers, who are often targeted by criminals for their mopeds, revealed that there are a number of areas which have been rendered too dangerous to work by attacks, and former Labour minister Stephen Timms MP admitted there are now “no go areas in parts of London and parts of the UK” in the House of Commons recently.