CrashSavers Trauma is designing a training tool to teach first responders hemorrhage control techniques that they can implement as part of their initial triage before transporting patients to the hospital. These techniques include wound pressure, tourniquet applications and foley catheter inflation to stop or reduce bleeding.

“Our low cost simulator and assessment tool can be particularly impactful for rural areas, where transport times to hospitals or medical centers can vary widely and lead to poor outcomes,” says Dr. Gabriel Escalona. 

The team plans to design a physical model to work in concert with a virtual simulation application software that teaches the indications and steps for each hemorrhage control approach. If they are successful, this may be the only formal hemorrhage control training for pre-hospital staff in Guatemala and many other Latin American countries.

“It is amazing to see how these simple skills can literally save lives,” says Dr. Escalona

The moments after a severe trauma, often called “the golden hour,” are critical for the survival of patients. A patient can quickly bleed to death without prompt and definitive care, and first responders must make decisions on hemorrhage control within minutes. First responders (paramedics, firefighters, police officers) receive trauma and hemorrhage control training in many countries. But in countries, such as in Guatemala, that lack a formalized emergency medical services (EMS) system, this is not the case. First responders are often volunteers with no formal training beyond basic first aid. 

First responders often underestimate the amount of pressure or compression that is needed to control bleeding. Tourniquets, for example, sometimes have too much slack, making them ineffective. The training, which depends on a high degree of tactile feedback, will assess technique and provide quantitative feedback on the applied pressure.