Cadaver as an educational tool increasing the effectiveness of Combat Application Tourniquet use in extremity injuries.

Abstract

One of the most frequent life-threatening emergencies is extremity haemorrhage. In such cases, patient survival depends on a fast on-scene intervention. Thus, both the potential witnesses and medical emergency staff should have the ability to control haemorrhages. However, simulator-based courses do not fully reflect the structures and physiology of the human body. Therefore, invasive procedure training in trauma patients is limited. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of cadavers as educational tools during a training course in extremity haemorrhage control with the use of the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT). This study was conducted among 31 paramedic students, who applied a tourniquet to the upper extremity of an unembalmed (fresh) human cadaver with simulated bleeding. Two time measurements were performed, the latter being preceded by a short CAT application training on a human cadaver. The mean time needed to stop the simulated bleeding in the first attempt was 38.33 seconds (SD±35.14). After the training, the mean time decreased to 20.58 seconds (SD±5.77). A statistically significant difference was observed between these two values (p=0.004). This study demonstrated that training conducted on human cadavers led to a significant improvement in the effectiveness of CAT use. Cadavers constitute a high-quality educational tool that, after adequate preparation, allows for practicing invasive medical procedures, such as extremity haemorrhage control.