P3.058: Advancing Hemorrhage Control: Training Rhode Island Schools and Advocating for Statewide Standardization

Background: Traumatic injuries are responsible for 60% of deaths in children and adolescents. The most common cause of trauma-related mortality is exsanguinating hemorrhage, which often begins prior to the arrival of emergency medical services. On-site bleeding control measures may prevent hemorrhage-related deaths, but the general public’s knowledge regarding the management of severe bleeding is limited. An initiative spearheaded by medical students and physicians has worked to train Rhode Island school staff in essential hemorrhage control techniques while advocating for the implementation of standardized hemorrhage control training across all public schools.

Project Description: In 2022, founded with the AAP Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) grant, a team of physicians and medical students formed to offer Stop the Bleed® hemorrhage control training to Rhode Island K-12 schools. By using a structured organizational model, the team successfully trained over 300 school nurses and staff in Rhode Island within a two-year period. Physicians lead the training with medical students assisting. Individual medical students assumed clearly defined roles: Education and Training Director, Research Director, Community Outreach & Partnerships, Volunteer Coordinator, and Social Media Manager. These defined roles have streamlined our organization to effectively expand our capacity for delivering trainings.
School nurses and staff have expressed their satisfaction with the hemorrhage control training and many of our trainings are now requested through word-of-mouth recommendations. Through offering hemorrhage control trainings, we’ve enhanced preparedness of our state for for children with life-threatening bleeding injuries, formed community partnerships, and collaborated with supporters of standardized hemorrhage control. As a result, Rhode Island lawmakers have recently introduced legislation supporting Stop the Bleed training and equipment in state schools.

Discussion: This initiative emphasizes the importance of preventing child deaths from bleeding through effective out-of-hospital hemorrhage control measures. Training Rhode Island school staff in hemorrhage control techniques and establishing a streamlined organizational structure has allowed us to expand our training capacity and foster collaboration with K-12 school partners to champion legislation supporting standardized hemorrhage control training and access to hemorrhage control kits across all public schools.

Conclusion: At the conclusion of this presentation, participants will understand how to structure combined physician and medical student groups to offer hemorrhage control training for K-12 school staff. Participants will recognize that offering hemorrhage control training in K-12 schools through direct collaboration with school personnel not only enhances community preparedness for children and adolescents with life-threatening bleeding injuries but also fosters meaningful partnerships that amplify advocacy efforts for standardized hemorrhage control training through state legislation.