Everyday Water-Related Emergencies: A Didactic Course Expanding Wilderness Medicine Education

This small group session is appropriate for any level of emergency medicine resident physicians.

Drowning is defined as the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion or immersion in liquid. It is the third leading cause of unintentional injury-related deaths worldwide, accounting for 7% of all injury-related deaths.1 Our group sought to improve resident education regarding the basics of water safety and rescues as an event developed by our wilderness medicine (WM) interest group. With the growing number of WM Fellowships, specialty tracks, interest clubs and the regular inclusion of WM topics in residency didactics, exposure to WM topics has increased greatly.2 There is a large overlap between wilderness medicine and the field of emergency medicine. Both require stabilization, improvisation, and the treatment of environmental/exposure illnesses. It is imperative that emergency medicine physicians understand the complex pathophysiology of drowning, as well as recognize and manage potential associated traumatic injuries including fractures and critical hemorrhage. Our goal is to provide additional curricular instruction on prehospital management of water-related emergencies and related injuries to emergency medicine residents.

By the end of the session, the learner will be able to: 1) describe the pathophysiology of drowning and shallow water drowning, 2) prevent water emergencies by listing water preparations and precautions to take prior to engaging in activities in and around water, 3) recognize a person at risk of drowning and determine the next best course of action, 4) demonstrate three different methods for in-water c-spine stabilization in the case of a possible cervical injury, 5) evaluate and treat a patient after submersion injury, 6) appropriately place a tourniquet for hemorrhage control, and 7) apply a splint to immobilize skeletal injury.

A group of 16 resident learners received a thirty-minute introduction discussion (with open discussion) regarding water safety, basic water rescue methods, and submersion injury pathophysiology. They then progressed through three stations designed to emphasize select skills and knowledge related to submersion injury management, water rescue, and tourniquet and splint placement.

Participants completed a six-item questionnaire after the event designed to help gage participant comfort level of treatment, management, and experience regarding water safety, drowning, and related traumatic emergencies. Each item was ranked from 0 for "strongly disagree" to 10 for "strongly agree." Total mean scores before and after were compared.

Sixteen individuals participated in the sessions and survey. The total mean score for the six-item analysis increased following the workshop (26.3 before versus 46.9 after, p = 0.001). The positive improvement in all categories indicated increased comfort in the topics of the small group sessions, with the largest improvement in the question about comfort in effectively evaluating and treating a patient presenting to the ED after a submersion injury.

Utilizing discussions and hands-on group sessions increased residents' perceived learning. This model can be applied to an extensive number of wilderness medicine topics for learners of all levels. For individuals with time-restrictive schedules, this model is an efficient mode of learning and teaching drowning and injury management skills with the potential for further topics and future courses.

Wilderness medicine, water safety, pathophysiology of drowning, in-water rescues, in-water cervical spine stabilization, management of drowning in the ED, splinting, tourniquets.