A Preliminary Comparison of Three Tourniquet Instructions for Just-in-Time Guidance of a Simulated Tourniquet Application. (September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lowndes, Bethany R.; Forsyth, Katherine L.; Prytz, Erik; Johnson, Carl-Oscar; Abdelrahman, Amro; Sztajnkrycer, Matthew D.; Franz, Walter B.; Blocker, Renaldo C.; Hallbeck, M. Susan
• Is Part Of: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society ... Annual Meeting. Volume 61:Part 1(2017)
• Page Start: 1076
• Page End: 1080
• Publication Date: 2017-09
• Subjects: Human engineering -- Congresses; 620.8205
• DOI: 10.1177/1541931213601873
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1541-9312

Abstract

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) encourage the use of tourniquets as part of the "Stop the Bleed" campaign. Both have provided instructions for layperson tourniquet application in order to save the life of a hemorrhaging trauma victim. This study sought to compare the impact of using ACS and DHS instructions with manufacturer-provided instructions for the completion of simulated tourniquet application steps. Thirty surgical trainees completed a simulated tourniquet application with one of the three instruction sets. Their completion time and success for each step were measured. Participants that received ACS instructions failed the fewest number of steps (p < 0.01) and completed the task faster (Mean (SD) = 70 (33) seconds) compared to those with the manufacturer-provided instructions (p < 0.01). Tourniquet instruction sets need to be refined in order to optimize the success rate of just-in-time guidance for tourniquet application.