Source: BBC News
London’s Air Ambulance crew have become the first team in the world to use a balloon device to control catastrophic bleeding at the roadside.
They hope technique will also help prevent deaths and disability from road collisions and falls from height.
The small balloon is inflated inside major blood vessels to stop internal blood loss – a common cause of death after severe injuries.
This may be a “major advance” in trauma care outside hospitals, experts say.
The technique, known as Reboa (resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta), was first used in the UK by the Royal London Hospital.
And after two years of further development, the London’s Air Ambulance charity have used it to treat a patient who suffered severe pelvic injuries and bleeding.
Pedestrians or cyclists involved in serious crashes often have internal bleeding due to injury to blood vessels deep inside the body – these cannot be compressed from the outside.
But this technique allows doctors to gain access quickly and control bleeding from within.
When the pelvis is injured – for example – large vessels in that area can be torn, leading to massive blood loss.
And some people will die at the scene or before they can be transferred safely to hospital.
Dr Gareth Davies, medical director at London’s Air Ambulance and emergency medicine consultant at Barts Health NHS Trust, said: “We believe the use of Reboa can lead to a reduction in the number of patients who quite simply bleed to death before they have the chance to get to hospital.