Unfortunately, the list of mass shootings doesn’t stop there because, as terrible as it is, we live in a world where mass casualty incidents are becoming part of today’s American culture. In addition to these unimaginable attacks, motor vehicle accidents, industrial accidents and household injuries round up the leading causes of traumatic amputations in the civilian sector.
Military leaders have learned through years of tough lessons that empowering everyone to save a life is the only way to change the outcome. That lesson doesn’t end on the battlefield. It is even more important on our streets where the number one cause of productive life years lost is traumatic injuries, and 80 percent of mass casualty patients are being delivered to medical facilities by non-ambulances.
Traumatic experiences without a doubt change us. The upside is that they can also serve as a catalyst for change and innovation preventing more catastrophic incidents in the future. So what have we learned from these all too common instances claiming thousands of lives every year?
Here are five big ways I expect medical trauma care will change by 2022:
1. Bleeding control will become the new CPR certification.
Hemorrhage is the number one cause of preventable deaths in the military. Outside of the military, studies show 35 percent of pre-hospital deaths are a result of uncontrolled hemorrhage from an extremity, causing thousands of preventable deaths every year. What would happen if bleeding control became a basic skill for everyone like knowing CPR or the Heimlich maneuver?
Similar to how we can’t know when or where a cardiac arrest will happen; neither can we predict a shooting, car crash or a major accident from occurring. In all emergency situations, time is of the essence. Whether a passerby, friend or family member, the first ones on the scene play the most critical role in helping to save someone’s life before the professionals arrive.
Life threatening bleeding does not discriminate. It doesn’t care whether it was caused by a broken window, motorcycle accident or bullet. Neither does it care if a surgeon nor a five-year-old child is the one who stops the blood loss. All that matters during a bleeding emergency is having quick access to the right equipment and knowing how to use it, which is really easy.
Bleeding control methods and devices are actually quite easy to learn and use. If children can learn essential first-aid skills, like CPR or splinting fractures, they can learn how to stop someone from bleeding to death. In fact, I think training individuals how to successfully stop blood loss should start as early as elementary school in the coming years. And yes, this includes teaching children how and when to properly use a tourniquet – a simple, lightweight and hugely effective medical device that is much easier to use than the amount of pressure and strength a child needs when giving CPR.
2. Everyone will start to carry a tourniquet at all times.
We’re already starting to see medical professionals use the same innovative life-saving medical devices used by the U.S. military in the battlefield to save the lives of civilians. By 2022, I expect everyone – not just medics – will start to carry a tourniquet on them either in their cars, purses, backpacks or simply as part of their standard first-aid kits. This is not to suggest we should go about our lives in a constant fear that such events will happen. Rather, the increased training and awareness around trauma response and bleeding control in the next few years will help overcome the fear and stigma associated with tourniquets, which have falsely been claimed to cause the loss of limbs or as a last resort option. People will begin to view tourniquets, and other medical trauma devices, no different from how we keep Band-Aids and gauze stocked in our first-aid kits or keeping jumper cables as part of our vehicle emergency kits. Hopefully, you’ll never be in a situation where a tourniquet is needed. For those unexpected events and accidents that do happen, these devices are often all that is needed to go from witnessing a tragedy to becoming a lifesaving hero.
3. Increased public access to emergency medical devices.
When you think of a portable fire extinguisher, you realize how available it is and the confidence people have in using it. Similarly, I expect life-saving medical devices, including tourniquets, slings, and chest seals, to become more accessible in all major public places by 2022. Because this doesn’t happen overnight, I expect we’ll see these devices first make their way into football stadiums, music venues, churches, schools and government buildings – or in public places that hold and confine large populations where the risk of mass injuries are highest.
4. More emphasis for medical trauma treatments in rural clinics and community hospitals over cities.
There is big time gap in receiving high-level emergency medical care in rural areas of the country. When a traumatic injury could cause someone to bleed to death in as little as 3-5 minutes, time is the enemy of survival. This makes bleeding control especially important for those who live in remote areas where for many, the closest hospital or medical care could be hours away. That said, I expect there to be a greater emphasis in hemorrhage control training to those in remote parts of the country over the next five years.
5. Increased trauma training for medical professionals who work in non-trauma related fields.
Common belief is that all medical personnel know how to effectively manage trauma patients. The reality? Lower-level providers with tactical combat casualty care training – like a military medic or civilian paramedic – are often currently more capable at managing trauma patients at the point of injury than most doctors, nurses or physician assistants. While higher-level medical personnel have a much broader medical experience, they have very little (if any) point-of-injury training. Some are not even familiar with the equipment or interventions needed to treat trauma-related injuries during those first few critical moments. By 2022, I expect more medical providers in non-specialized fields will receive trauma training as an imperative next step for all medical facilities.
About Kyle Sims, Director of New Product Development, SAM Medical
Kyle Sims serves as director of new product development for SAM Medical, a leading pre-hospital medical device company, where he oversees the innovations behind the sleek, easy to use, life-saving products made for the guardians, comforters and miracle workers confronting adversity around the world. Sims is a retired Special Forces Medic and Medical Research and Development Sergeant Major in the USASOC Combat Development Directorate. Sims brings 17 years of experience as a Special Operations Medic and more than five years of combat deployments where he served in a broad spectrum of austere assignments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. He holds a bachelor of science degree in management studies from University of Maryland University College.
Footnotes/References
https://stopthebleedingcoalition.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0Dk-1SqExY http://cpr.heart.org/idc/groups/ahaecc-public/@wcm/@ecc/documents/downloadable/ucm_494780.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5022193/
The views, opinions and positions expressed within these guest posts are those of the author alone and do not represent those of Becker’s Hospital Review/Becker’s Healthcare. The accuracy, completeness and validity of any statements made within this article are not guaranteed. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions or representations. The copyright of this content belongs to the author and any liability with regards to infringement of intellectual property rights remains with them.
