Affiliation:
1. Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine Bond University Gold Coast Queensland Australia
2. Emergency Department Gold Coast University Hospital Gold Coast Queensland Australia
3. ACT Government/Canberra Health Services Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
4. School of Medicine and Dentistry Griffith University Gold Coast Queensland Australia
Abstract
AbstractObjectiveThis pilot study compared non‐medically trained surf lifesavers' (SLS) ability, after infographic training, to occlude the femoral artery using a pressure point (PP) versus an arterial tourniquet (AT).MethodsUsing a crossover design, eight SLS applied PP and AT to a participant's leg to occlude the femoral artery. Arterial flow, application time and perceived difficulty were recorded.ResultsPP achieved 89.7% and 50.8% blood flow reduction for PP and AT, respectively. Average application time was 50.63 and 113.5 s for PP and AT, respectively. Perceived difficulty using a Likert scale from 0 to 10 (0 being no difficulty and 10 being maximal difficulty) was 2.75 and 3.50 for PP and AT, respectively.ConclusionInfographic‐trained SLS showed superior blood flow occlusion using PP. This pilot study will inform a larger trial for untrained beachgoers.