[Effect of a 1-day "REBOA course" on the theoretical and practical skills for the prehospital REBOA setting : Experiences from the RIBCAP-HEMS project].

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) represents an endovascular procedure for aortic occlusion. The procedure can be used for temporary hemorrhage control as a bridge until surgical treatment for noncompressible abdominal or pelvic bleeding and to improve coronary and cerebral perfusion pressure during cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The prehospital administration is challenging and currently hardly possible in Germany. In the REBOA in bleeding and cardiac arrest in the prehospital care by helicopter emergency medical service (RIBCAP-HEMS) project, the prehospital use of REBOA will be tested in a feasibility study. This article describes the training course on the procedure in preparation for prehospital use, which was conducted before the start of the aforementioned feasibility study for the emergency physicians and paramedics (HEMS-TC) of the DRF Air Rescue Base in Halle (Saale). The course provided the necessary theoretical and practical skills to apply REBOA in the prehospital setting to patients in extremis in a safe, indications-conform and time-critical manner. The fact that all emergency physicians of the two air ambulances Christoph 84 and Christoph 85 in Halle are specialists in anesthesiology with corresponding experience in the placement of invasive arterial catheters proved to be advantageous. The training course was able to significantly improve the theoretical and practical abilities of the participants. The results of the currently ongoing study must show whether the procedure can be usefully integrated into the prehospital care of patients in extremis.