Comparison of surf lifesaver pressure point control and a commercial arterial tourniquet for major lower limb haemorrhage: A randomised controlled crossover pilot trial

Abstract

Objective: This pilot study compared non-medically trained surf lifesavers' (SLS) ability, after infographic training, to occlude the femoral artery using a pressure point (PP) versus an arterial tourniquet (AT). Methods: Using a crossover design, eight SLS applied PP and AT to a participant's leg to occlude the femoral artery. Arterial flow, application time and perceived difficulty were recorded. Results: PP achieved 89.7% and 50.8% blood flow reduction for PP and AT, respectively. Average application time was 50.63 and 113.5 s for PP and AT, respectively. Perceived difficulty using a Likert scale from 0 to 10 (0 being no difficulty and 10 being maximal difficulty) was 2.75 and 3.50 for PP and AT, respectively. Conclusion: Infographic-trained SLS showed superior blood flow occlusion using PP. This pilot study will inform a larger trial for untrained beachgoers.