Tourniquet: Entretien 3/mois mieux qu'1/mois

Does practice make perfect? Prospectively comparing effects of 2 amounts of practice on tourniquet use performance

Baruch EN et al Am J Emerg Med. 2016 Aug 27. pii: S0735-6757(16)30540-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2016.08.048

---------------------------------------------

L'entretien des compétences et en particulier des gestes apparaît fondamentale et nécessite un suivi chiffré pour garantir un niveau suffisant d'expertise pour une projection opérationnelle. Ceci est parfaitement mis en avant dans le travail de schaeur et Al. (1) qui porte sur des gestes de réanimation préhospitalière. Le document proposé à votre lecture porte sur un geste essentiel: La pose du garrot. Une pratique plus régulière limite le désapprentissage.

---------------------------------------------

Although a lifesaving skill, currently, there is no consensus for the required amount of practice in tourniquet use. We compared the effect of 2 amounts of practice on performance of tourniquet use by nonmedical personnel.

METHODS:

Israeli military recruits without previous medical training underwent their standard tactical first aid course, and their initial performance in use of the Combat Application Tourniquet (CAT; Composite Resources, Rock Hill, SC) was assessed. The educational intervention was to allocate the participants into a monthly tourniquet practice program: either a single-application practice (SAP) group or a triple-application practice (TAP) group. Each group practiced according to its program. After 3 months, the participants' tourniquet use performance was reassessed. Assessments were conducted using the HapMed Leg Tourniquet Trainer (CHI Systems, Fort Washington, PA), a mannequin which measures time and pressure.

RESULTS:

A total of 151 participants dropped out, leaving 87 in the TAP group and 69 in the SAP group. On initial assessment, the TAP group and the SAP group performed similarly. Both groups improved their performance from the initial to the final assessment. The TAP group improved more than the SAP group in mean application time (faster by 18 vs 8 seconds, respectively; P = .023) and in reducing the proportion of participants who were unable to apply any pressure to the mannequin (less by 18% vs 8%, respectively; P = .009).

CONCLUSION:

Three applications per monthly practice session were superior to one. This is the first prospective validation of a tourniquet practice program based on objective measurements.