ADAC Air Rescue improves patient care with blood products carried onboard
The move by the German rescue organization serves to boost the ability of doctors to save lives of people who are suffering severe blood loss in a pre-hospital setting
Two helicopters – Christophe 22 and 23 – are going to be the first ADAC helicopters to carry the red blood cells (blood type 0-) and blood clotting products. As so many of ADAC’s callouts are to work and traffic accidents in rural areas, the fact that medics can now administer blood and blood clotting products at the scene of the accident will undoubtedly be of benefit to patients – who may otherwise have had to wait longer before such lifesaving care could be given.
Bundeswehr Hospital in Ulm and the Bundeswehr Central Hospital in Koblenz have significant experience in the military medical transfer sector, and are thus ideal partners with which to introduce the blood supply, noted Frederic Bruder, Managing Director of ADAC Air Rescue.
Successful pilot in carrying blood products onboard helicopter
Professor Dr Matthias Helm, Senior Physician and Director of the Clinic for Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, Emergency Medicine and Pain Therapy at Bundeswehr Hospital, started the pilot project in August 2020. He commented: “Uncontrolled bleeding as a result of a serious injury in accidents is the leading cause of death in patients under the age of 45. We can reach such patients very quickly by helicopter and, with the early administration of red blood cells and coagulation factors, we can relocate another component of intensive care medicine from the clinic directly to the deployment site.”
New research into effect of helicopter on red blood cells
In Koblenz, research is also being conducted into the extent to which the shape and size of red blood cells change due to the vibrations of the helicopter in which it is being carried. Colonel Dr Willi Schmidbauer, Director of the Clinic for Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine in Koblenz, commented: “A characteristic feature of air rescue that has been in existence for over 50 years is to bring a highly qualified medical team to the patient and provide them with excellent care. With the blood supply, we are now scientifically investigating another possibility of increasing this quality of care.”
Both ADAC air rescue stations will report on their first experiences with the project in spring 2021.