London`s Air Ambulance Wins Pride of Britain Award
London's Air Ambulance has been announced as the winner of the Emergency Services category at this year’s Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards.
The medical team won the award for its use of a pioneering balloon procedure—known as REBOA (Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta)—to prevent a 24-year-old cyclist, Victoria, from bleeding to death at the roadside.
The prestigious prize also recognized the doctors at The Royal London Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, who spent two years developing the ground-breaking procedure, which was then adapted to be taken out of hospital, a world first for London’s Air Ambulance, and is helping to save lives across the capital.
Victoria was hit by a truck while commuting to work. Her pelvis was so badly crushed, the medics treating her feared she would not survive.
Reflecting on Vicky’s accident Dr. Samy Sadek said, “You want to save this girl's life and you know that it can go wrong so easily. A millimeter of movement either way and all can be lost. It might be your only chance.”
The team who were presented with the award—Dr. Simon Walsh, Dr. Samy Sadek and paramedics Bill Leaning, Sam Margetts and Dean Bateman—performed REBOA on scene, inserting a balloon into Vicky's major blood vessel and inflating it to cut off the blood supply to her pelvis and legs, giving the team time to get her to hospital where she could be operated on.
It was only the second time the REBOA procedure had been carried out on the roadside and Vicky was the second patient to survive it.
Commenting on the win, Dr. Gareth Davies, Medical Director for London's Air Ambulance, said, “It is a huge honor to receive this award which recognizes the successful development and delivery of REBOA outside the hospital. London’s Air Ambulance medics were the first in the world to use REBOA at the roadside. Being able to manage blood loss at the scene means we can reduce the number of people who die before they even get to hospital.”
Dr. Simon Walsh and paramedic Bill Leaning from London's Air Ambulance first arrived at the scene of Victoria’s accident in a rapid response car. They found a tire imprint across Victoria’s pelvis where she had been run over by the truck. Her legs were tangled and distorted and she had only minutes to live. The helicopter arrived soon after, carrying the REBOA equipment, blood and another advanced trauma team consisting of Dr. Samy Sadek and paramedics Sam Margetts and Dean Bateman.
Once the balloon was in place, Victoria’s condition immediately improved. She was transferred to The Royal London Hospital where she needed 12 further operations.
She lost her left leg, but is regaining her strength and fitness, has returned to work and is planning to cycle again.
REBOA is most frequently used for traffic collisions when a patient’s blood vessels are so badly damaged that it is difficult to stop internal bleeding. A thin plastic tube with a balloon at the end is fed through an artery in the leg and pushed into the aorta to below the heart. The balloon is then inflated to cut off the blood supply to the damaged vessels and prevent the patient from bleeding to death.
