Bystander Trauma Care training in Iowa

The Iowa Bystander Trauma Care program trained citizens to provide initial care at the scene of a motor vehicle crash. The development, implementation, and evaluation of the program are described.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's curriculum was used as the basis for developing the Iowa Bystander Trauma Care program. Emergency medical technicians (EMTs) were trained to be instructors in a two-hour course offered at each of four community colleges. The EMTs, in turn, provided instructions to the general populace. Five hundred participants were given a questionnaire before the one-hour Bystander Trauma Care training session, immediately after the training and six months later. The questionnaire obtained background data and assessed attitudes regarding willingness to stop and assist, and knowledge obtained.

One hundred twenty EMT instructors trained more than 2,000 citizen bystanders in a 17-county area in central Iowa. Immediately after the training program, participants were more likely to provide assistance (p < 0.001), and understand the sequence of actions to be performed at the scene of a crash and how to prioritize the information provided to 911 (p < 0.05). There was also evidence of retention of the knowledge six months after training.

Citizens readily volunteered for the Bystander Trauma Care training program. Results of the questionnaire suggest citizens can be successfully trained to recognize the needs of, and provide initial care for, acutely injured persons, and the positive effects of such training are maintained over time.