Background Out-of-hospital, life-threatening emergencies are increasingly prevalent. In the United States, it is estimated that over 50,000 cardiac arrests occur annually in public settings and that one in 50 individuals are susceptible to anaphylaxis. Last year, 81,083 Americans died from opioid overdose and over 600 mass shootings occurred in the United States. The public expects medical providers, especially physicians, to possess the skills and competencies to effectively intervene in such emergencies. However, undergraduate medical education rarely provides adequate, lifesaving care training to medical students. To address this curriculum gap, we surveyed the need for out-of-hospital, lifesaving care training in undergraduate medical education and implemented a hands-on training curriculum.

Methods We conducted a needs assessment survey to examine the lifesaving care proficiencies of medical students at a large academic medical center. Surveys consisted of multiple-choice and Likert scale questions regarding student confidence to intervene independently during out-of-hospital emergencies, perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and utilize an automated external defibrillator (AED), pack a penetrating wound, apply a tourniquet, use an epinephrine autoinjector, and administer naloxone. Additional questions assessed medical student opinions on whether the current curriculum had prepared them to perform lifesaving interventions. Descriptive analysis of quantitative survey data was performed to determine the percentage for each response.

Results Of the 55 medical student respondents, only two (3.6%) felt extremely confident in their abilities to independently respond to an out-of-hospital emergency, while 35 (63.6%) were not at all or minimally confident in such scenarios. Furthermore, 28 students (50.9%) felt confident performing CPR or using an AED, 15 (27.2%) felt prepared to apply a tourniquet, ten (18.2%) to pack a penetrating trauma wound, 41 (74.6%) to use an epinephrine autoinjector, and 27 (49.1%) to administer naloxone. Lastly, 54 students (98.2%) agreed that all physicians should possess the skills to provide lifesaving care during out-of-hospital emergencies, 53 (96.4%) hoped to learn such skills, and five (9.1%) believed the medical school curriculum adequately prepared them for out-of-hospital emergencies.