Trauma scissors vs. the rescue hook, exposing a simulated patient: a pilot study

The objective of this study was to compare the exposure times using trauma scissors vs. the rescue hook on a simulated patient. This was a prospectively randomized, parallel group comparison study with two arms. The control group used trauma scissors (15 cycles), and the intervention group used rescue hooks (15 cycles). The uniform and footwear were standardized for each cycle. Ten participants were trained on each instrument. For each cycle, four participants were randomly chosen, and the use of either instrument was randomized. Each participant was then queried about their preferences for either instrument and why. The rescue hook's mean time of exposure was 24 s with a SD of 7 s and a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 20-28 s. The trauma scissors' mean exposure time was 42 s with a SD of 5 s and a 95% CI of 39-45 s. The mean difference was 18 s, with a 95% CI of 13-23 s. On average, the rescue hook was 43% faster. Nine of 10 participants preferred the rescue hook, stating that it was faster, easier, smaller, and more durable. The rescue hook was found to be faster than trauma scissors when exposing a simulated patient, and it was the instrument preferred by the majority of participants.