Patient Gender Treatment Gaps in Tactical Combat Casualty Care of Gunshot Wounds Mitigated by Training Experience

Optimizing Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) in the golden hour of care is critical to improve patient outcomes. Previous research demonstrates performance gaps in treating female soldiers compared to their male counterparts. This study examines TCCC performance of N = 29 combat lifesavers and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadets presented with two high-fidelity simulators, male and female, experiencing polytrauma. Participants were less likely to locate the female’s gunshot wound (GSW) to the chest and more likely to commit sealing errors. There was a significant patient gender x order interaction with more sealing errors and longer times to expose the female patient when the female was presented first. More training experience with female human patients was significantly associated with greater success in locating GSWs and fewer sealing application errors. A follow-up analysis found the beneficial effect of practice with female humans remained when controlling for practice with male humans.