Hospital Fray Bernardino Alvarez, Ciudad de México, México.

Background Currently, a number of efforts have been launched to enable the general population to assist as first responders in front of victims who are bleeding. We sought to assess the success of executing the Stop the Bleed campaign and the relationship between the backgrounds of the instructors and the participants' attained theoretical and practical skills in Latin America. Methods At a nearby institution, medical students and general surgeons instructed both allied health students and nonallied health students. The training included a master class, a practical component, a written test, and a tourniquet placement test. Results The training was given to 265 people, for which data were available for 243. 126 (52.07%) of them were women, and the The median age was 21 years (IQR: 20–22). General surgeons (group A) trained 121 (49.79%) while medical students (group B) trained 122 (50.21%). (group B). After the training, more than 98% of participants felt confident in their ability to apply direct pressure to a bleeding victim and more than 90% felt confident in their ability to apply a tourniquet. When comparing the post-training competence evaluations of the two groups, there were no statistically significant differences between them [Theoretical test score: group A = 5 (IQR: 4-5); group B = 5 (IQR: 4-5); P = 0.41] or [Practical competency of tourniquet deployment: group A = 119 (66.39%) versus group B = 120 (65.83%); P = 0.93]. Conclusions Without changing the course's learning objectives, the Stop the Bleed campaign can be successfully implemented throughout Latin America and taught by trained medical students.

Hemorrhage control, Education, Stop the bleed, Prehospital care, Preventable death

William Stolarek. The Problem with 'Stop the Bleed' Campaign Implementation in Latin America. Insights Journal of Surgery and Clinical Case Reports 2021.