Bleeding control methods for kids: A pediatric approach to the national education campaign—a pilot program

Abstract

BACKGROUND The project purpose was to design and test an age-appropriate curriculum to train children aged 5 through 13 years on bleeding control methods based on the national Stop the Bleed initiative. Studies have shown that children as young as 5 years are able to perform first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The project aimed to demonstrate that children as young as 5 years can be taught bleeding control methods. Our hypothesis was that there would be a 60% retention rate on retesting of the children within 1 year across all age groups. METHODS The study design was an observational cohort study from February 2018 to January 2020. Participants (aged 5 through 13 years) were trained on bleeding control methods but using an age-based curriculum. The initial training included 500 children. The participants were taught tourniquet applications, wound packing, and direct pressure skills. The curriculum consisted of a 30-minute didactic portion with participant involvement and engagement followed by 30 minutes of hands-on skill training and demonstration. In addition, participants were required to be able to recite the “5 Rules” to helping hurt people. Descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS Participants were retested approximately 1 year after the initial training. The retest group only consisted of 227 participants because of a multitude of reasons for the decrease in children. Children were tested in comprehension and application of each skill. Results indicated a greater than 70% retention for all skills across all participants for the retesting after 1 year. CONCLUSION The findings indicated that children as young as 5 years can be taught to perform bleeding control methods of tourniquet application, wound packing, and direct pressure. While the results indicate that the older the child, the better the retention, if children were provided multiple trainings over a 1-year period, the retention could be higher. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Observational Cohort Study; Level VIII.