J. Bailey1, M. Iwanicki1, D. H. Livingston1, A. Fox1 1New Jersey Medical School,Newark, NJ, USA
Introduction: The Hartford Consensus identifies law enforcement officers (LEO) as critical first responders who work in hostile environments and should be trained in bleeding control (BC). There is great emphasis to expand BC to the public, who could act as immediate responders. While universal education of BC is a laudable goal, identifying individuals who have the greatest likelihood of utilizing BC maneuvers is the optimal use of scarce resources. We postulate that LEO have little training in BC. With increasing numbers of mass casualties, we believe that the LEO community is the ideal group for BC efforts to be focused. The goal of this study was perform a needs assessment and to identify gaps in knowledge in LEO.
Methods: Over 6 months, 7 Bleeding Control Basics classes were conducted in New York and New Jersey for multiple law enforcement agencies. In addition, 2 civilian classes were conducted. Anonymous, voluntary surveys were collected from all participants following the classes. Responses were tabulated and analyzed using SPSS.
Results: 190 participants were taught and completed evaluations (100% response rate). 51% had prior experience utilizing bleeding control techniques, with 47% trained on direct pressure, 40% on tourniquet use, and 20% on hemostatic agents. 71% of those with experience had previous military training; of those with military training, 96% had received BC training. Military experience did not differ between LEO and civilians. Of participants, just 14% carried bleeding control kits on their person, and 6% had ever utilized a tourniquet in an emergency setting.
Conclusion: Prior military experience conferred BC experience. LEO without military experience had no more knowledge than civilians. Despite knowledge, only a handful of LEO carry BC kits and would be ill-prepared to treat bleeding patients following trauma or mass casualty events. All class participants rated the education highly. This study clearly identified training gaps and illustrates the necessity of BC training in the LEO population. We strongly believe that BC Basics should be a mandatory component of the LEO curriculum nationwide.