On a balmy July afternoon, a day of recreation turned nearly catastrophic for a 19-year-old surfer injured on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland. While out on the ocean, the surfer wiped out after catching a wave and cut his leg on the razor-sharp skeg of his surfboard. Beach patrol responded quickly to the scene and noticed the surfer had sustained a severe injury to his thigh. Knowing that seconds matter in any bleeding emergency, a staff member promptly implemented steps from Stop the Bleed training as they waited for emergency personnel to arrive: apply pressure to the wound, pack the wound, and apply a tourniquet.
Thanks to the swift actions of the staff, the surfer was airlifted to R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, Maryland in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
“What was remarkable was that the patient had very little blood loss when we did an initial survey of his wound at Shock Trauma,” said Rishi Kundi, MD, FACS, chief of endovascular trauma at Shock Trauma Center. “He did not come in shock at all, which is surprising given the depth and nature of the injury. I can safely say that whatever bleeding control measures were taken on the beach were effective.”
According to Dr. Kundi, the patient sustained a vascular injury in the medial left thigh, in an area where the femoral vein, artery, and nerve are bundled together.
“His CT scan suggested the presence of an injury to both the artery and vein,” Dr. Kundi said. “It is an area where an injury can absolutely be lethal because of the amount of blood in the area.”
Dr. Kundi and his surgical team successfully operated on the wound. He credits American College of Surgeons (ACS) Stop the Bleed techniques with helping control bleeding when seconds matter.
“The effects of ongoing blood loss are profound,” he said. “Even with an injury that does not appear to be severe, unaddressed blood loss can turn what would otherwise be a mild injury into something that is life-threatening.”
“The point of Stop the Bleed is to stop blood loss and minimize blood loss. The sooner that you can arrest bleeding from an injury, the more it will benefit the patient’s survival in the moment, in the next 24 hours, and in the next month,” added Dr. Kundi, who also serves as an Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) instructor and Stop the Bleed instructor in addition to his clinical role at Shock Trauma. “Anything you can do to reduce that blood loss upfront will pay off in the short, medium, and long terms.”
The beaches of Ocean City, Maryland are popular spots for surfers and beach dwellers, attracting an estimated 8 million visitors annually.
Thanks to the generosity of a concerned citizen whose life was saved by Stop the Bleed years ago during a bus accident in New Jersey, Stop the Bleed kits have been available on Ocean City beaches since 2019. Staff also receive yearly training in ACS Stop the Bleed and other first aid techniques, according to Butch Arbin, captain of the Ocean City Maryland Beach Patrol.
Captain Arbin notes that the training is essential for bleeding emergencies such as the one the surfer experienced and other unexpected events, including those that can occur from umbrellas uplifted during windy storms.
“Oftentimes Stop the Bleed is the only thing that will make a difference in a situation where there is severe bleeding,” he said. “The program brings together knowledge, skills, and equipment to allow people to save a life when probably nothing else would work.”
“When an incident happens, it’s often too late to prepare and get trained,” he added. “If you think you’re going to be in a situation where you need to be trained and prepared before something happens, you’re more likely to survive any kind of incident or accident if you have a plan beforehand.”
Learn more about Stop the Bleed training and how to purchase a bleeding control kit.