Category: Emergency Medicine

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Naloxone Use During Cardiac Arrest Linked to Improved Survival

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Study shows benefits to drug often used for opioid overdose reversal

Photo by Mikhail Nilov

A new study by emergency medicine researchers at UC Davis Health set out to assess the effects of naloxone administration by first responders treating patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OA-OHCA).

The study, published in Jama Open Network, found naloxone administration during resuscitation by emergency medical service (EMS) personnel was associated with improved outcomes in patients with suspected OA-OHCA.

“This study provides important real-world evidence that naloxone may offer benefit even after cardiac arrest has occurred.”

David Dillon, study author

What the data shows

For this retrospective cohort study (looking back at existing patient records), researchers collected data from the California Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium between 2021 and 2022. In total, 3811 patients with suspected OHCA were treated by EMS.

Researchers found that people who received naloxone, a medication better known for reversing opioid overdoses, had higher rates of survival from the time they were treated by EMS to the time they were discharged from the hospital. The patients also benefitted from return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) and favourable neurological outcomes compared to those who did not receive the drug.

The key findings included:

  • Survival to hospital discharge was higher among those receiving naloxone (8.1%) compared to those who did not (4.4%). 
  • Naloxone use was associated with a 2.8% absolute increase in survival, after accounting for patient and clinical factors. 
  • People treated with naloxone had improved neurologic outcomes (+3.2%) and ROSC (+3.3%).
  • Benefits were even greater among those with EMS-suspected drug-related cardiac arrest, with survival improvements approaching 8–9%.

The study also found that the association between naloxone and improved outcomes was weakened in certain situations – particularly among patients who required epinephrine during resuscitation. This suggests that timing, patient condition or resuscitation complexity may influence effectiveness.

Addressing a critical gap

Opioid overdose deaths in the United States have surged over the past two decades, contributing to a growing number of cardiac arrests outside the hospital. While naloxone is widely used to reverse opioid overdoses, its role during cardiac arrest has remained unclear and is identified by the American Heart Association as a key evidence gap.

“This study provides important real-world evidence that naloxone may offer benefit even after cardiac arrest has occurred,” said David Dillon, assistant professor of emergency medicine at UC Davis Health and one of the study’s authors. “While these findings are promising, randomised controlled trials are needed to determine whether naloxone directly improves survival in opioid-associated cardiac arrest.”

By Liam Connolly

Source: UC Davis Health

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Whole Blood and Components Equally Effective in Prehospital Trauma Care

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Photo by Mat Napo on Unsplash

Giving whole blood or the component parts of blood are equally effective options for paramedics and emergency medical technicians to use in treating patients with severe, traumatic bleeding before arriving at the hospital, according to a large, nationwide trial directed by University of Pittsburgh and UPMC clinicians and scientists.  

The results, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, provide flexibility to prehospital emergency care providers and could increase the odds that traumatically injured patients receive blood as soon as possible.  

“Traumatic bleeding is the leading cause of trauma death and is the most time-sensitive injury a person could suffer æ more time sensitive than a stroke or heart attack,” said co-lead author Jason Sperry,  professor of surgery in Pitt’s School of Medicine, and chief of trauma surgery at UPMC. “But it is preventable – and that starts with giving blood back to the injured person before they even arrive at the hospital.”  

Donated blood is usually separated into parts – red cells, plasma and platelets – for storage and so the parts can be used individually as needed. When someone is bleeding, emergency clinicians will often give all or some of these parts to the patient at once. Giving either whole blood or its component parts had long been considered safe options. 

But which is better for treating severe bleeding: Giving never-separated whole blood or giving the components? The answer matters for blood bank and emergency care logistics.  

Sperry and fellow principal investigators Francis Guyette, professor of emergency medicine in Pitt’s School of Medicine, and Stephen Wisniewski, professor of epidemiology and associate vice chancellor for clinical trials coordination at Pitt, launched the “Type O Whole Blood and Assessment of Age During Prehospital Resuscitation (TOWAR) Trial” to find out.  

The multicentre trial, which ran from May 2022 to June 2025, enrolled and included 1020 severely bleeding patients who were transferred to a trauma centre by medical helicopter. The patients were randomised 2-to-1 to receive either whole blood or blood components.   

The research team found no statistically significant difference between the two study arms. In both cases about a fifth to a quarter of the patients died within 30 days, compared to a third of traumatically bleeding patients who do not receive blood before arriving at the hospital. 

“This is good news,” said co-lead author Guyette, who is also medical director of STAT MedEvac, which is directed by a consortium of UPMC hospitals and is the nation’s largest academic, nonprofit critical care transport group. “It means that emergency responders can use whatever form of blood is most accessible to them. In U.S. civilian emergencies that may be component blood because that is how most blood banks package it, but in military settings whole blood is often all that is available. We’ve shown that both are equally great options.” 

In March, a European group announced the results of a similar, slightly smaller trial conducted in England, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Like the Pittsburgh team, they also found that giving whole blood or blood components was equally effective. The clinician-researchers believe that the combined findings will be reflected in guidelines set by various societies that oversee trauma care, surgery and blood handling.  

Whole blood is good for 21 days after donation, so the clinician-scientists were also curious if patient outcomes were any different if they were given new blood or blood closer to the expiration date. They learned that it made no difference—outcomes were the same for patients receiving newer blood within 14 days of donation compared to those receiving older blood within seven days of expiration. 

“Our thoughtful approach to the study design allowed us to not only answer the important question of the efficacy of whole blood compared to component therapy, but also to evaluate the health impact of an important public health question, the age of whole blood,” said senior author Wisniewski, who is also codirector of the Epidemiology Data Center at Pitt’s School of Public Health. “Our trial provides reassurance by verifying current standards that support the use of whole blood units throughout their entire shelf life.” 

The team also noted that the findings wouldn’t have been possible without the generosity of blood donors, study participants agreeing to share their data and the hard work of emergency care providers.  

“We’re very grateful to everyone involved, particularly the paramedics, emergency medical technicians and flight nurses,” Guyette said. “We are hopeful that this study and future research will give them better tools to save lives.” 

Source: University of Pittsburgh

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Intubation Before Hospital Admission for Major Trauma Saves Lives

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Photo by Mikhail Nilov

Trauma patients urgently requiring a breathing tube are more likely to survive if the tube is inserted before arriving at hospital compared to insertion afterwards, suggests a modelling study led by researchers at University College London and the Severn Major Trauma Network.

The researchers found that prehospital emergency intubation of high-risk trauma patients could improve 30-day survival by 10.3%, and could save 170 lives each year in the UK.

The findings of the new artificial intelligence (AI)-supported analysis, published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, provide\s the strongest evidence yet that prehospital emergency anaesthesia with intubation saves lives when delivered to those who need it most.

Trauma is a leading cause of death worldwide, with rates in South Africa 5–9 times higher than the global average. But there is a lack of high-quality evidence on the best time to start certain types of care for major trauma patients, such as the insertion of breathing tubes.

Prehospital intubation needs to be administered by an advanced critical care team, specially trained and equipped to administer the anaesthesia required to facilitate the insertion of breathing tubes. In the UK, that is currently provided only by the air ambulance services.

The researchers say their findings could inform policy discussions on funding specialist prehospital critical care teams, which could include public funding for air ambulances or funding additional training for ground ambulance teams, so that more high-risk major trauma patients can have breathing tubes inserted before arrival at hospital.

Joint first author Dr Amy Nelson (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology and King’s College London) said: “The airway is a top priority in major trauma, but the question of whether we should intubate before hospital arrival is unsettled because we cannot ethically conduct a randomised trial.

“Emergency care decisions made before hospital admission depend on the combination of many measurements taken under pressure. We used these measurements to answer the question in steps: we first built a machine learning model to identify high-risk patients, then we modelled the impact of early intubation in this group, which showed us that prehospital intubation saves lives.”

For the study, researchers analysed data from 6467 trauma patients treated at Southmead Hospital Major Trauma Centre, Bristol.

The researchers used AI-assisted modelling to predict both who would need intubation and who would likely survive – to isolate the impact that intubation had from other factors such as the injury severity. To facilitate their analysis, they developed a new machine learning model, called ‘Intub-8’, which predicted outcomes based on eight routinely collected prehospital measurements.

The researchers found that among high-risk patients who were identified by the model as needing intubation (229 patients), those who received it before arriving at hospital were 10.3% more likely to survive (within a 30-day period) compared with those who did not.

By scaling up their findings relative to national trauma incidence, the researchers estimate that if every trauma patient who needed prehospital intubation was given it, 170 lives could be saved each year in the UK – roughly one life saved every other day. 

Additionally, they conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis, finding that cost savings would be in the range of £101 million annually for the UK, due to reduced costs of further care and lives saved.

Professor Parashkev Nachev (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology), joint senior author, said: “In medicine, action and inaction are not morally asymmetric. When we cannot have randomised controlled trial evidence for an intervention, we must use the best available alternative: causal inference from real-world data, assisted by artificial intelligence, the only technology with the power to address the complexity of biological systems.”

Associate Professor Julian Thompson, joint senior author and Clinical Director of the Severn Major Trauma Network, said: “Until now, advanced air ambulance services across the world who respond to critically injured patients have struggled to conduct studies that assess the benefit and cost effectiveness of their life-saving interventions. The use of AI in this study has allowed us to analyse existing data in a totally new way. This reveals the huge impact that advanced care provides when delivered before arrival in hospital.

“These findings may have a huge impact on how UK and international health services look after the most severely injured patients in our societies.”

The authors note that the findings are specific to a mixed rural-urban UK setting where highly trained physician-paramedic teams perform all prehospital intubation. The survival benefit may differ in other healthcare systems or national contexts, and further research is needed to examine long-term outcomes and potential complications.

Source: University College London

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Potential New Treatment for Sepsis Shows Promise in Trial

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Griffith University researchers may have unlocked the secret to treating sepsis, with a Phase II clinical trial in China successfully concluding with promising results.

Photo by Alex Fedini on Pixabay

Griffith University researchers may have unlocked the secret to treating sepsis, with a Phase II clinical trial in China successfully concluding with promising results. The sepsis drug candidate, a carbohydrate-based drug called STC3141, was co-developed by Distinguished Professor Mark von Itzstein AO and his team from Griffith’s Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, and Professor Christopher Parish and his team at The Australian National University.

“The trial met the key endpoints to indicate the drug candidate was successful in reducing sepsis in humans,” Professor von Itzstein said.

STC3141 was administered as an infusion via a cannula and counteracted a significant biological molecule release phenomenon which occurred in the body during the course of sepsis.

The small-molecule experimental drug was a carbohydrate-based molecule and could treat sepsis by reversing organ damage.

Sepsis was known to affect millions of hospitalised patients across the world each year and occurred when the body’s immune response to an infection attacked and injured its own tissues and organs.

“When sepsis is not recognised early and managed promptly, it can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and death,” Distinguished Professor von Itzstein said.

The trial, conducted by Grand Pharmaceutical Group Limited (Grand Pharma), involved 180 patients with sepsis, one of the leading causes of death and long-term disability worldwide.

Currently, there is no specific anti-sepsis therapy available, and sepsis is considered a clinical unmet need.

Professor von Itzstein said Grand Pharma would now look to progress to a Phase III trial to continue testing the efficacy of the novel treatment.

“It’s hoped we could see the treatment reach the market in a handful years, potentially saving millions of lives,” he said.

Executive Director of the Institute for Biomedicine and Glycomics, Professor Paul Clarke, said: “I am thrilled to see the results of the trial which ultimately aims to save lives.”

“The Institute and its researchers collectively work on translational research to deliver real and immediate impacts both in Australia, and globally to transform lives.”

Source: Griffith University

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Case Study: Building a Stronger Emergency Response System in Limpopo

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Strengthening Limpopo’s post-crash emergency response has been one of the most powerful achievements of the Limpopo Road Safety Programme (LRSP). Through a combined focus on updated clinical training, advanced rescue skills and improved operational systems, Projects 12 and 12.1 have reshaped how Emergency Medical Services (EMS) teams respond in the critical minutes after a crash – from the first emergency call to hospital handover.

Updating clinical skills to strengthen frontline emergency care

Across South Africa, the Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for emergency care have been substantially updated, including a major revision in 2018. These updates incorporated new evidence, improved patient outcomes, and standardised practice across the health system, shifting toward more user-friendly formats such as clinical decision-support tools. For Limpopo’s EMS, this presented both an opportunity and a challenge: although the guidelines were available, many personnel had not yet received training to apply them consistently in the realities of roadside emergencies. Project 12 addressed this need directly, rolling out comprehensive CPG training across all five districts. EMS practitioners were equipped with updated algorithms for trauma, medical, paediatric and obstetric emergencies, along with enhanced assessment, triage and stabilisation skills.

This clinical uplift aligned perfectly with major system improvements. In the 2023/2024 financial year, the Limpopo Department of Health procured more than 500 new, modern ambulances, significantly expanding the provincial fleet. The LRSP ensured this investment translated into real-world impact: EMS personnel were trained not only on updated CPGs but also to use the new vehicles and onboard equipment to their full potential; optimising monitoring, patient loading, scene workflow and en-route care. Modern ambulances combined with modern knowledge dramatically strengthened the quality of emergency care.

By 2025, the system advanced even further with the introduction of a Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) system, enabling more efficient call-taking, improved dispatch decision-making, clearer communication and better tracking of EMS resources across districts. The CAD system, together with updated CPGs and a modern ambulance fleet, created a tightly integrated platform for faster, smarter and more coordinated EMS response. For the first time, Limpopo could align clinical best practice, operational intelligence and fleet capacity into one cohesive system.

Introducing advanced rescue skills for high-severity crash scenes

Yet, while clinical updates and dispatch improvements strengthened core EMS response, Limpopo still faced a critical need for specialised capacity at high-severity crash scenes, especially those involving vehicle entrapment. Project 12.1 filled this gap by introducing the province’s first Advanced Vehicle Rescue Short Course, delivered by EPIC EM and the University of Johannesburg. Over seven intensive days, participants trained in vehicle stabilisation, extrication techniques, hydraulic tool use, and multi-casualty scene management, blending theory with realistic, high-pressure simulations. Many described the training as transformative, giving them the competence and confidence to manage complex incidents on Limpopo’s regional and mining routes.

Together, these interventions have created a step change in Limpopo’s post-crash care system. Today, EMS teams arrive at crash scenes equipped with modern ambulances, updated clinical guidance, advanced rescue skills and a CAD-supported operational network that ensures faster and more coordinated response. Patients benefit from safer extrication, quicker stabilisation and better continuity of care during the “golden hour”. Beyond improving skills, the programme has strengthened morale, professionalism and a culture of excellence within EMS.

Projects 12 and 12.1 have left a lasting legacy: a provincial emergency response system that is smarter, faster and better prepared to save lives on Limpopo’s roads.

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Is There a Doctor on Board? New Research Reveals the Frequency of In-Flight Medical Emergencies

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The study is the largest global analysis of in-flight medical events

Photo by Daniel Eledut on Unsplash

 With nearly five billion people flying each year, medical emergencies in the air may be more common than most realise and they can be deadly.

A new study led by Duke Health researchers analysed more than 77, 00 in-flight medical events reported to the world’s busiest airline medical support centre. The findings show that while most incidents are minor, thousands of passengers required hospital care after landing, and hundreds died or triggered aircraft diversions.

The study, published in JAMA Network Open, was conducted in partnership with MedAire, an aviation and maritime health and safety solutions company, which also provided the data for analysis. The paper offers a rare look into how airlines respond to medical crises and why some flights are forced to divert.

“This is the largest and most comprehensive study of in-flight medical emergencies ever conducted,” said Alexandre Rotta, MD, senior and corresponding author of the paper and chief of the Division of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine with the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine.

“It gives us a real-world snapshot of what happens when someone gets sick in the sky and how starkly the options differ from those in a hospital,” Rotta said.

Researchers reviewed medical calls from 84 airlines across six continents, covering over 3.1 billion passenger boardings between January 2022 and December 2023.

They found that one in every 212 flights involved a medical emergency. Of those flights, about 8% of passengers were taken to the hospital after landing, and 1.7% of the total medical events were so serious they caused the plane to divert.

The most common reasons for diversion were suspected strokes, seizures, chest pain, and altered mental status. Cardiac arrest occurred in 293 cases, with survival rates far lower than on land.

Medical volunteers (often physicians) assisted in nearly one-third of emergencies. Their involvement was linked to a higher likelihood of diversion, likely because they were called upon during more serious events.

“It’s humbling to practice medicine in the air,” said Rotta, who became interested in the topic after being called upon as medical volunteer during several flights. “You’re working with limited equipment, no lab tests and no backup. Even minor issues can become major challenges.”

Rotta emphasised that airlines are generally well-prepared, especially in the US, where regulations require defibrillators and basic medical kits. However, he noted that not all airlines partner with ground-based medical support centres, an approach he believes is essential.

“Airplanes aren’t hospitals, and we shouldn’t expect them to be,” he said. “But having expert guidance from the ground can make all the difference when someone’s life is at risk.”

The findings could help shape airline policies, improve crew training and inform passengers with chronic conditions about how to prepare for travel.

Source: Duke University

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Innovative UK Project to Test Drones for Cardiac Arrest Response

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Credit: University of Surrey

A project to test how drones can be integrated into the UK’s 999 emergency response system to rapidly deliver defibrillators to patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) has been launched by the University of Surrey, Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex, South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust. 

With survival rates for OHCA in the UK currently below 10%, a key challenge is the delay in delivering life-saving defibrillation. While public Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) are widely available, getting them to a patient in time is often difficult. This 16-month project will explore using drones to rapidly deliver AEDs to the scene of an emergency. 

This research is the first step towards integrating drone technology into our emergency response systems. Our ultimate goal is to develop and test the procedures needed to seamlessly introduce drone delivery of AEDs into the 999-emergency system 

Dr Scott Munro, Lecturer in Paramedic Practice at the University of Surrey and co-lead on the project

The initiative, which has been funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), will be divided into two sections: in the first, researchers will develop and refine the drone delivery process through a series of simulations, coordinating 999 call taking, Air Traffic Control, ambulance dispatch and drone operators.  

In the second part, interviews will be conducted with a diverse group of people -including OHCA survivors, family members, responders and members of the public – to understand the public’s perception of drone technology, including any barriers or concerns, and to ensure ease of use for responders. 

This project is a great example of how NIHR’s RfPB programme supports life-saving innovation. Using drones to deliver defibrillators could help emergency teams reach patients faster, improve survival after cardiac arrest, and bring cutting-edge technology directly to the NHS frontline, while working with the public to ensure it’s used safely and effectively. 

Professor Kevin Munro, Director of the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme

Rapid intervention is vital in managing out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. As demand continues to grow, the opportunity to integrate this technology into future healthcare systems represents real progress in ensuring ambulance services can work with the communities they serve to strengthen the chain of survival and give patients the best chance of a positive outcome Being a partner in this research, we are eager to explore how this new initiative could strengthen our cardiac arrest care pathway. 

Dr Craig Mortimer, Research Manager at South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SECAmb)

Source: University of Surrey

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Unlocking Fast, Targeted Treatment for Trauma Injuries

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Photo by Mat Napo on Unsplash

A groundbreaking study by researchers at Rutgers Health has uncovered a way to precisely identify and target trauma sites in the body within minutes of injury. The findings, published in the journal Med (Cell Press), could revolutionise emergency care by enabling real-time diagnostics and site-specific treatments delivered within minutes of injury.

A team of scientists, led by Renata Pasqualini and Wadih Arap at the Rutgers Cancer Institute discovered something new about how the body reacts to injury. When cells are damaged, like in a major bone break, calcium levels shift, which causes certain proteins to change shape. These changed proteins, called the “traumome,” are only found in injured tissues and show up right after an injury happens. This discovery opens up a new way to treat injuries directly, without affecting healthy parts of the body.

“The moment trauma occurs, specific proteins undergo structural changes, creating a molecular footprint of injury,” said Arap. “This opens the door to delivering diagnostics or therapies directly to the site – without affecting healthy tissues.”

This discovery has relevance in emergency treatment because many medicines can affect healthy organs when they’re given too soon. With this new approach, doctors could deliver treatments like imaging agents, clotting factors or antibiotics directly to the injured area, which would help the body heal faster with fewer side effects.    

“Our long-term vision is a simple injection that autonomously finds and treats injury sites,” said Pasqualini. “This could be transformative for battlefield medicine and emergency trauma care, where every second matters.”

The team used advanced testing on a pig model with major injuries to find tiny protein pieces called peptides. These peptides are like guides that can find and stick to the specific proteins altered by injury. One of these peptides stands out because it can attach to a protein that changes shape when calcium levels rise after an injury. This makes it possible to use special scans, like PET or MRI, to see exactly where the injury is in the body.

The trauma-targeting peptide worked the same way in rats, which shows that this injury “signature” is similar in all mammals, including humans.

The work was supported by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, underscoring its strategic value in both civilian and military medical applications. “Non-compressible bleeding remains a leading cause of death among soldiers before they reach a hospital, and localised treatment could dramatically improve survival rates, which was the original impetus of this research,” said Jon Mogford, a study co-author and former DARPA official.

The next phase of research will involve linking therapeutic agents to the trauma site-homing peptides and testing them in animal models before moving to early human clinical trials. The team envisions translational applications ranging from battlefield medicine to civilian trauma response and possibly even sports injuries or surgical recovery.

“We are actively developing peptide-linked drugs and imaging agents based on this discovery,” said Arap. “The traumome concept may also have applications beyond trauma, including in surgery, inflammation and tissue regeneration.”

Source: Rutgers University

Categories : Emergency Medicine Injury & TraumaTags :

Adaptive Spine Board Could Revolutionise ER Transport

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ASB overlay is divided into five distinct sections—head and neck, upper trunk, buttocks and pelvis, thighs, and feet and heels

In combat zones and emergency rescues, rapid evacuation and treatment can mean the difference between life and death. But prolonged immobilisation during transport poses another life-threatening risk: pressure injuries.

A newly developed adaptive spine board (ASB) overlay aims to change that, offering an innovative solution to prevent pressure injuries and dramatically improve patient outcomes. Developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Arlington and UT Southwestern Medical School, the adaptive spine board sits atop a standard stretcher or spine board, using air-cell technology to redistribute pressure more effectively than traditional evacuation surfaces. The team’s newly published study in the Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering shows the ASB outperforms other immobilisation options.

“The ability to dynamically adjust pressure so that no vulnerable body regions experience excessive weight is a breakthrough for medical evacuation,” said Muthu B.J. Wijesundara, principal research scientist at the University of Texas at Arlington Research Institute. “This innovation could set a new standard in casualty transport protocols.”

Also called bedsores or ulcers, pressure injuries result from prolonged pressure on the skin and underlying soft tissue, leading to cell death, tissue breakdown and open wounds. They are a constant risk for trauma patients during long-range transport, which sometimes lasts more than 16 hours. Research shows that more than 50% of casualties transported during the Iraq War developed pressure injuries before reaching a hospital.

While some existing technologies, such as vacuum spine boards, can help redistribute pressure, their effectiveness is limited. Many conventional supports fail to keep pressure below the thresholds recommended to prevent injury. Military stretchers and pads have shown to create high-pressure points on vulnerable areas of the body, including the back of the head, base of the spine, buttocks and heels.

“Beyond military use, the ASB overlay could prove valuable in civilian medical transport, particularly for spinal injury patients who are at high risk for pressure ulcers,” Dr Wijesundara said. “The research also highlights potential applications in other environments where prolonged immobilisation is necessary, such as disaster relief and space exploration.”

The ASB overlay features a multi-segmented air-cell design that target pressure-prone areas more effectively than previous solutions. It is divided into five distinct sections—head and neck, upper trunk, buttocks and pelvis, thighs, and feet and heels—each equipped with sensor-driven pressure modulation for responsive, localised support.

“One key innovation is the system’s ability to autonomously adjust the air-cell pressure to maintain optimal distribution for each patient,” Wijesundara said. “We developed an algorithm that compensates for environmental variables, such as temperature and barometric pressure changes, ensuring consistent performance across varying conditions. Testing showed that the ASB overlay outperformed typical equipment used in casualty transport.”

For critically injured patients, pressure injuries can significantly complicate treatment and recovery, leading to longer hospital stays, higher infection risks and additional surgeries. They’re also costly. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) estimates that pressure injuries in the US can cost up to $151 700 per case, adding $11.6 billion in additional health care expenses annually. Alarmingly, the AHRQ also reports that approximately 60 000 patients die each year because of pressure injuries. The ASB overlay’s advanced pressure modulation could help mitigate these risks—especially for patients who cannot be repositioned during extended transport.

The research team is now planning additional studies to improve the device’s usability in real-world conditions. As the military increasingly relies on prolonged aeromedical evacuation, such advancements are critical for enhancing patient care in conflict zones.

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Statins May Reduce Mortality Risk by 39% for Patients with Septic Shock

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Each year in the US alone, approximately 750 000 patients are hospitalised for sepsis, of which approximately 27% die. In about 15% of cases, sepsis worsens into septic shock, characterised by dangerously low blood pressure and reduced blood flow to tissues. The risk of death from septic shock is even higher, between 30% and 40%.

The earlier patients with sepsis are treated, the better their prospects. Typically, they receive antibiotics, intravenous fluids, and vasopressors to raise blood pressure. But now, a large cohort study in Frontiers in Immunology has shown for the first time that supplementary treatment with statins could boost their chances of survival.

“Our large, matched cohort study found that treatment with statins was associated with a 39% lower death rate for critically ill patients with sepsis, when measured over 28 days after hospital admission,” said Dr Caifeng Li, the study’s corresponding author and an associate professor at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital in China.

Statins are best known as a protective treatment against cardiovascular disease, which function by lowering ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, and raising ‘good’ HDL cholesterol. But they have been shown to bring a plethora of further benefits, which explains the burgeoning interest in their use as a supplementary therapy for inflammatory disorders, including sepsis.

Not just lowering cholesterol

“Statins have anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, antioxidative, and antithrombotic properties. They may help mitigate excessive inflammatory response, restore endothelial function, and show potential antimicrobial activities,” said Li.

The authors sourced their data from the public Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care-IV (MIMIC-IV) database, which holds the anonymised e-health records of 265 000 patients admitted to the emergency department and the intensive care unit of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Boston between 2008 and 2019. Only adults with a diagnosis of sepsis hospitalised for longer than 24 hours were included here.

The authors compared outcomes between patients who received or didn’t receive any statins during their stay besides standard of care, regardless of the type of statin. Unlike in randomised clinical trials, the allocation of treatments is not determined by random in observational studies like the present cohort study. This means that it is in principle hard to rule out that an unknown underlying variable affected allocation, for example if physicians unconsciously or on purpose were prone to give statins to those patients most likely to benefit from them.

However, Li and colleagues used a technique called ‘propensity score matching’ to minimize the risk of such bias: they built a statistical model to determine a likelihood score that a given patient would receive statins, based on their medical records, and then found a matching patient with a similar score, but who didn’t receive statins. In the final sample, 6070 critical patients received statins while another 6070 did not.

Source: Frontiers