J. T. Gowen1, J. D. Wolfe1, K. W. Sexton1, C. R. Thrush1, A. Privratsky1, W. C. Beck1, J. R. Taylor1, B. Davis1, M. K. Kimbrough1, R. D. Robertson1, A. Bhavaraju1 1University Of Arkansas for Medical Sciences,Department Of Surgery, Division Of Trauma And Acute Care Surgery,Little Rock, AR, USA
Introduction: To comply with the ACS goal of zero preventable deaths from trauma, we incorporated hemorrhage-control training into the formal medical school curriculum. We predict this training will increase the comfort and confidence levels of medical students with controlling major hemorrhage, and they will find this a valuable skillset for physicians and other health care professionals to possess.
Methods: After IRB and institutional approval was obtained, hemorrhage-control training was taught to all third-year medical students during their surgery clerkship, beginning in May 2018. The training was completed in accordance with the American College of Surgeons’ Stop the Bleed (STB) program, details of which can be found at www.bleedingcontrol.org. Using a prospective study design, all trainees completed pre- and post-training surveys to gauge their prior experiences and comfort levels with controlling major hemorrhage, and their confidence levels with the techniques taught during the program. A knowledge quiz was completed immediately following the training. JMP Pro V13 (SAS; Cary, NC) was used for statistical analysis with significance set at p = 0.05.
Results: 47 students were trained and completed surveys. 43 out of 47 students (91%) reported only minimal first aid training or no experience at all with hemorrhage control; 1 student reported prior training. Comfort level with hemorrhage control and confidence level with all basic hemorrhage-control techniques showed statistically significant increases after training, with 100% of students reporting feeling confident or very confident in the application of these techniques. There was a trend towards, but not a statistically significant difference in students’ perceptions of the importance of this training for physicians (p=0.06) and the need to include STB training in medical school curricula (p=0.59) before and after STB training, which we attribute to the high positive response rates on the pre-survey. The mean percent correct on the quiz was 97.1%.
Conclusion: Hemorrhage-control training can be easily and effectively incorporated into the formal medical school curriculum with minimal effort via a single 2-hour Stop The Bleed course, increasing students’ comfort level and confidence with controlling major traumatic bleeding. Students value this training and feel it is a beneficial addition to their education, and possibly that of other healthcare professionals. We believe this should be a standard part of undergraduate medical education. Further work needs to be done to determine retention of these skills over time and if this training can be similarly incorporated into the curricula of other allied health professional schools.
