Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance partners with the University of Portsmouth to stress test new patient monitoring technology
Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance has partnered with the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratory to test two VitalStream™ monitors, to assess their suitability when out on an air ambulance mission.
When someone is critically ill or injured, their condition can change in minutes. Changes in blood pressure, heart rate and other vital signs can signal that their circulation is failing. Recognising these changes early can be crucial.
Monitoring these signs is a vital part of an ambulance crew’s work. Traditionally, continuous, beat-by-beat blood pressure monitoring requires an arterial line – a thin tube inserted into an artery, usually in the wrist or groin.
Although effective, the procedure is invasive and can be technically challenging, particularly in the difficult conditions crews often face, like at the side of a busy road or in a wet and windy field in the dead of night.
VitalStream™ monitors being tested in the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratories
Exploring a new approach
The technology aims to measure vital signs non-invasively, using a specially designed cuff rather than an arterial line. This could help crews monitor patients more easily and identify changes in their condition sooner.
Working with healthy adult volunteers in controlled trials at the University of Portsmouth’s Extreme Environments Laboratories (EEL), researchers will assess the monitors during carefully controlled changes in temperature and oxygen availability.
By studying how the equipment responds to these changes, the team aims to establish how accurately and consistently it detects changes in vital signs in unpredictable and challenging settings, such as high and low temperatures and reduced-oxygen chambers.
We are delighted to be working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, whose teams deliver exceptional care when it matters most. This partnership demonstrates the power of research and innovation to tackle real-world challenges and will make a tangible difference to our local community.
If successful, the technology could provide valuable insight into how patients respond to treatment, helping our crews make informed decisions when every second counts.
Pete Owen, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance Advanced Paramedic and Research Lead, said: "We are hopeful that this exciting evaluation of new technology becomes an enduring partnership with the Extreme Environment Lab at the University of Portsmouth.
"Collaborations like this will help improve the care we deliver to the population of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and, hopefully, generate new knowledge we can share with other air ambulance services and emergency responders at national and international levels."
The equipment will be tested for suitability in high and low temperatures
Joe Costello, Professor of Exercise & Environmental Physiology and member of the University's EEL, said: "We are delighted to be working with Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, whose teams deliver exceptional care when it matters most. This partnership demonstrates the power of research and innovation to tackle real-world challenges and will make a tangible difference to our local community.
"It is particularly rewarding to see the expertise within our Extreme Environments Laboratories being applied in ways that can support and enhance such an important pre-hospital emergency service provider."
The University of Portsmouth's EEL can recreate conditions from polar cold to jungle heat and high altitude. Partners include the Ministry of Defence, RoSPA, the RNLI and Olympic and Paralympic athletes. In 2023, the labs received The Physiological Society's first Excellence in Physiology Award.
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