R. L. Schocke1, T. P. Webb1, L. B. Somberg1, C. S. Davis1 1Medical College Of Wisconsin,Trauma/Acute Care Surgery, Department Of Surgery,Milwaukee, WI, USA
Introduction: Injury is the leading cause of death before the age of 45, and hemorrhage from penetrating extremity injury is the most preventable cause of death from trauma. Answering the call that all citizens learn the basic techniques of hemorrhage control, the American College of Surgeons has spearheaded the national Stop the Bleed campaign. Medical students can now be associate Stop the Bleed instructors, and many instructors are required to meet the objectives set forth by the Hartford Consensus. Thus, we sought to train an entire incoming medical school class while simultaneously measuring the success of the course in this engaging group.
Methods: One hour during the first-year orientation week was utilized to teach the Stop the Bleed B-Con course to 197 medical students. A survey was administered to assess pre- and post-course comfort with wound compression, wound packing, and tourniquet use. Students were also asked if they were interested in later participating in the Stop the Bleed program. The Fisher’s exact test was used for statistical analysis.
Results: Of the study cohort, only 21 (11%) had previously heard of the Stop the Bleed program. Before the course, those who rated themselves as comfortable or somewhat comfortable with the basic tenants of hemorrhage control were: 113 (57%) for compression, 69 (44%) for wound packing, and 69 (35%) tourniquet use. After the course, those who rated the same levels of comfort were significantly greater, being: 194 (98%) for compression, 190 (96%) for wound packing, and 193 (98%) for tourniquet use (p < 0.0001 for all comparisons). Nearly 60% of students (n=115) indicated that they would like to become instructors, and the overall survey response rate was 100%. Many students stated that the training was their favorite part of medical school orientation.
Conclusion: Stop the Bleed training was enthusiastically received by an entire incoming medical school class. Comfort with the techniques of basic hemorrhage control was significantly improved, and many students indicated they desired to participate further in the program. Engaging large numbers of medical students in Stop the Bleed is feasible. Most importantly, medical students may serve as an important resource as we redouble our efforts of primary injury prevention and aim to achieve zero preventable deaths from injury.