Design Process and Engineering Evaluation of a Cost-Effective Traumatic Hemorrhage Control Simulator

Abstract Traumatic hemorrhage is a life-threatening and time-sensitive condition that can leave little to no permanent damage to a patient if treated appropriately. Military personnel encounter traumatic hemorrhage in their line of work and therefore require high-quality and realistic training in hemorrhage control techniques, such as wound packing and tourniquet application. However, not all personnel receive the same quality of training due to training or simulator fidelity, reliability, cost, and realism. Even within programs that use manikins for simulation, manikins may lack key features, such as simulated blood, patient feedback, and performance assessment metrics that allow for trainee improvement. With a growing market and increasing need for realistic bleeding control training, there is a gap to address in developing low-cost, realistic, and adaptable training models, delivering these models to appropriate trainees, and measuring learning curve and performance. In this work, we describe the development process of a bleeding control simulator, Bleed and Repeat, from the stages of design research through engineering analysis of simulated physiologic parameters. This manikin-style simulator consists of an upper extremity with a gunshot wound and includes a monitor display, embedded pressure sensor to evaluate applied pressure to the wound, adjustable pumps for blood flow, and sound emission from the manikin. Bleed and Repeat blends these components into a cohesive and immersive bleeding control training simulation that aims to replicate real-life hemorrhage in a classroom setting. The last stage of the design process was an engineering-based evaluation of simulated physiologic parameters, including blood flow rate and body temperature.