L. C. Tatebe1, D. Ferrer1, D. Kang2, M. Saeed3, M. Swaroop1 2Rush University Medical Center,Chicago, IL, USA 3State University of New York Health Science Center at Brooklyn,Brooklyn, NY, USA 1Feinberg School Of Medicine – Northwestern University,Chicago, IL, USA
Introduction: Chicago’s ballooning violence disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods exposing young people to trauma. Bystanders are present at 60-97% of traumas and more likely to assist if given prior training. The Trauma Responders Unify to Empower (TRUE) Communities Course was designed and implemented across the city to create Immediate Responders to traumatic events. We evaluated the impact of bringing these skills to high schools in at-risk neighborhoods, in an attempt to improve self-efficacy and ultimately outcomes for victims of trauma.
Methods: A three-hour trauma immediate responder course was designed using community based focus groups and qualitative analysis of the bystander effect. The course addressed basic first aid, trauma wound care, principles of bystander care, and the psychological impact of trauma. The course was taught in community centers, churches, and schools, to both minor and adult participants. Pre- and post-course questionnaires were offered. Seven evidence-based empowerment questions were assessed on a scale of 1 to 10. Ten knowledge-based questions were presented as single best of four multiple choice answers. The change in empowerment measures and knowledge scores were analyzed using chi-squared and t-test methods with p<0.05 considered significant. Subset analysis was performed comparing results from current high school students were compared to the rest of participants.
Results: Of the182 high school students and 286 individuals post-high school who participated, approximately half of each cohorts had seen someone shot with a gun (45.3% vs 55.6%, respectively, p=0.04). However, far fewer high school students received prior first-aid training (33.9% vs 60.4%, p<0.001). For the high school students, the mean increase in empowerment was 2.9 out of 10 (p<0.001) while the remaining cohort increased scores by 2.7 (p<0.001). The increase was not different between the groups (p=0.45). The students were outperformed by the remaining cohort in both the pre- and post-course knowledge evaluation (5.2 vs 6.7 and 6.8 vs 7.5, both p<0.001); although, the high school students showed a significantly larger increase in their scores (1.5 vs 0.7, p<0.001).
Conclusion: Violence remains a pervasive public health issue in Chicago. Within at-risk communities, high schoolers are not spared exposure to this violence but have not yet received Immediate Responder training on how to approach a victim of trauma. Our evidence-based community course successfully improved self-efficacy and knowledge of trauma first-aid among Chicago’s high school students. Such training should be considered for high school students nationwide.
