The Public Access Trauma Care (PATC) program, led by the Maryland-National Capital Region Emergency Response System (MDERS), empowers the residents and visitors of Montgomery and Prince George’s County to respond to life threatening bleeding and trauma. MDERS collaborates closely with both counties to identify, procure, deploy, and train upon the medical supplies necessary to treat major bleeding injuries, pneumothorax, and shock. As part of this program, government buildings and public schools are outfitted with publicly accessible PATC kits.
In the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) system, each high school maintains 20, 5-pack PATC kits located in readily identifiable cabinets distributed throughout each building. These kits contain a QuikLitter patient movement device, a Combat-Application Tourniquet (CAT), compression dressing, compressed gauze, medical gloves, trauma shears, two chest seals, a survival blanket, a sharpie, duct tape, and an instruction card. Through these supplies, a student or staff member can deliver immediate medical aid to an injured person prior to the arrival of first responders. As recently as January 2022, one of these PATC kits was utilized to treat an injured student at Magruder High School suffering from a gunshot wound.
Currently, MCPS staff train on the identification of injury patterns and administration of proper medical care through the PATC program. As MCPS looks to expand the capability further, program leaders identified the need to better train students the knowledge, skills, and abilities to use the PATC kits in a real-world situation. To meet this need, MDERS procured 84 PATC training kits on behalf of MCPS to supplement health curriculum and training opportunities in Montgomery County high schools.
MDERS partnered with MCPS to configure the training kits to best meet the needs of Montgomery County high schools. To ensure students are prepared to deploy a PATC kit in a real-world situation, each training kit contains a variety of equipment mirroring the supplies an individual may find in the PATC kits installed throughout MCPS. Each high school received three training kits comprised of the following supplies:
- 15 Combat Application Tourniquets (CAT)
- 15 Elastic Bandages
- 15 Conforming Stretch Gauze Bandages
- 15 Hyfin Twin Pack Chest Seal Trainers
- 10 Wound Cube Simulators
- 3 Emergency Trauma Dressings
- 1 Cloth/Silk Tape
- 1 QuickLitter Transport Device
- 2 Emergency Mylar Blankets
- 2 Medical Shears
- 2 Hyfin Twin Pack Chest Seals
- 2 Compressed Gauze Packages
- 2 Pairs of Nitrile Gloves
- 2 Sharpie Markers
- 2 Mini Duct Tape Rolls
- 1 PATC Kit
MCPS plans to utilize the training kits during a three-day lesson about identifying medical emergencies and rendering basic medical aid. During this curriculum, students will learn to recognize specific injury patterns and understand associated harm and risks. Instructors will then demonstrate how to safely and effectively render aid using proper medical techniques. During the final component of the curriculum, students will use the provided training materials to practice the application of chest seals, direct pressure, and tourniquets, as well as how to pack a wound and prevent shock. The knowledge, skills, and abilities provided through this program will better prepare students to administer life-saving medical care in real-world emergency.
MDERS continues to provide training materials and PATC supplies to the residents and visitors of Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. For more information on the PATC program, please email mders@maryland.gov.