Retention of Tourniquet Application Skills Following Participation in a Bleeding Control Course

Overview

Prospective, observational study of students 6 months after completing a Stop the Bleed course to determine overall ability to effectively use a tourniquet to stop external extremity hemorrhage. Following the release of the Hartford Consensus in October 2015, the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma initiated the National Stop the Bleed campaign (2) that among several proactive recommendations was to encourage first responders and the lay public to become trained, equipped and empowered to step forward and intervene in a bleeding emergency. The Stop the Bleed initiative provides baseline education and training in the use of tourniquets to stop extremity hemorrhage when pressure alone does not work. While the program has progressively provided education and training to over 130,000 individuals worldwide there are no recommendations regarding time intervals for refresher training to maintain confidence and competence in the use of tourniquets. The rationale for this study is to ascertain if tourniquet application skills are sufficiently maintained 6 months after participation in a Stop the Bleed course and to provide recommendations for refresher training based on the results.

In response to an alarming rise in active shooter/hostile incidents in the United States, in 2013 the American College of Surgeons convened a committee of multidisciplinary trauma experts who in collaboration with the federal government created a protocol for a national policy to enhance survivability from these active shooter incidents as well as other intentional mass casualty events. The committee's recommendations were called the Hartford Consensus. Among the recommendations of the Hartford Consensus was the training of first responders (law enforcement, EMS and fire personnel) as well as the public (so-called "immediate responders") in the basics of bleeding control. In October 2015, responding aforementioned recommendation, the White House launched the Stop the Bleed national awareness campaign as a "call to action". Under the auspices of the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma, a curriculum was developed teaching responders how to recognize and intervene in the event of catastrophic bleeding. Of the three bleeding control interventions promoted (external pressure, wound packing and tourniquet application) the tourniquet application component of the Stop the Bleed curriculum is evidence-based and provides the student with both didactic and psychomotor education. To date there is a paucity of data available to provide insight as to how long this vital skill is retained. More over there is no recommendation on refresher education with additional opportunities to practice this life-saving procedure. This study will serve as a follow-up to Stop the Bleed (also called Bleeding Control or B-Con) education provided by the investigator. The intent is to bring participants from a Bleeding Control course back to the investigator 6 months following initial education and assess their retention of tourniquet application skills. All participants will be assessed using a tourniquet simulator and their success will be measured in their ability to stop the bleeding using the simulator. The participants will be observed for proper identification of bleeding necessitating the use of a tourniquet, selection of the proper site of application, proper application of the device (use as described in the Stop the Bleed curriculum). This study will not involve the use of actual patients or human subjects. It is intended to be follow up assessment to skills-based education with an endpoint that will provide insight as to a time-frame for refresher training. Of the three bleeding control skills taught as part of the Stop the Bleed curriculum, the application the tourniquet is a universal stop the bleed intervention and most likely intervention to be used to stop the bleed.