The Impact of the Addition of a Virtual Reality Trainer on Skill Retention of Tourniquet Application for Hemorrhage Control Among Emergency Medical Technician Students - A Pilot Study

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆

A pilot randomized study assessed whether adding a virtual reality (VR) trainer improves emergency medical technician (EMT) students' retention of tourniquet placement skills for hemorrhage control. Forty EMT students completed initial training, then were assigned to a VR intervention or control group. Blinded instructors evaluated tourniquet performance 70 days post-training. No significant between-group difference in correct placement was found, though VR trainees showed higher error likelihood related to haptics, particularly improper tightening.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Introduction

Trauma and hemorrhage control background

Tourniquet training and skill decay

Rationale for VR simulation

How to cite this article

Open Access Original Article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.34320 Review began 01/05/2023 Review ended 01/27/2023 Published 01/28/2023 © Copyright 2023 Arif et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0. , which permits unrestricted use , distribution , and reproduction in any medium , provided the original author and source are credited. The Impact of the Addition of a Virtual Reality Trainer on Skill Retention of Tourniquet Application for Hemorrhage Control Among Emergency Medical Technician Students: A Pilot Study Adeel Arif 1 , Rachel C. Santana Felipes 1 , Mia Hoxhaj 1 , Michael B. Light 1 , Nicholas B. Dadario 2 , Brennan Cook 2 , Matthew J. Cataldo 3 , Farrukh N. Jafri 1 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, White Plains Hospital, White Plains, USA 2. Department of Medicine, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA 3. Department of Emergency Medical Services, Westchester Community College, Valhalla, USA Corresponding author: Adeel Arif, [adeelarif1421@gmail.com](adeelarif1421@gmail.com) Abstract Introduction: Trauma is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) often arrive first at the scene of traumatic injuries to perform life-saving skills such as tourniquet placement. While current EMT courses teach and test tourniquet application, studies have shown efficacy and retention of EMT skills such as tourniquet placement decay over time, with educational interventions needed to improve retention of skills. Methods: A prospective randomized pilot study was conducted to determine differences in retention of tourniquet placement among 40 EMT students after initial training. Participants were randomly assigned to either a virtual reality (VR) intervention or a control group. The VR group received instruction from a refresher VR program 35 days after initial training as a supplement to their EMT course. Both the VR and control participants’ tourniquet skills were assessed 70 days after initial training by blinded instructors. Results: There was no significant difference in correct tourniquet placement between both groups (Control, 63% vs Intervention, 57%, p = 0 .57) . It was found that 9/21 participants (43%) in the VR intervention group failed to correctly apply the tourniquet while 7/19 of the control participants (37%) failed in tourniquet application. Additionally, the VR group was more likely to fail the tourniquet application due to improper tightening than the control group during the final assessment (p = 0 .04) . Conclusion: In this pilot study, using a VR headset in conjunction with in-person training did not improve the efficacy and retention of tourniquet placement skills. Participants who received the VR intervention were more likely to have errors relating to haptics, rather than procedure-related errors. Categories: Medical Education, Medical Simulation, Healthcare Technology Keywords: vr tourniquet placement, tourniquet placement skill retention, tourniquet use, medical education and simulation, emergency medical technician, emergency medicine and trauma, skills and simulation training Introduction In the United States, trauma is the leading cause of death in individuals between the ages of 1 and 45 . At the same time, uncontrolled hemorrhage has been identified as being the leading cause of preventable injury death [1-3]. As a result, there has been an emphasis on hemorrhage control training for lay people and first responders through programs such as the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Stop the Bleed (STB) program, and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) certification courses. Studies have found that prehospital tourniquet use is associated with reduced mortality in patients with vascular injuries [4,5] . While increased tourniquet use has shown favorable improvement in survival, inaccurate application or misuse may

FAQs

What question does the pilot study investigate?

Whether an immersive VR experience, used alongside in-person training, can decrease errors in tourniquet placement and improve skill retention among EMT students.

How were participants assigned and what was the VR intervention?

Forty EMT students were randomly assigned to a VR intervention group or a control group. The VR group received refresher instruction via a VR program 35 days after initial training.

What were the main results regarding tourniquet placement performance?

There was no significant difference in correct tourniquet placement between groups. However, the VR group was more likely to fail due to improper tightening and showed more haptics-related errors.

Sep 23, 2026

Uploaded by nayy☆