Walking IABP Patients Without Guesswork
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Perfect for the clinician who wants to mobilize some of the sickest patients in the ICU — with the clinical reasoning to back their decisions.
I Was Exactly Where You Are...
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Course overview
I was 26, looking at a group of patients who routinely spent days, weeks, sometimes months flat in bed, because that's just how it was done with a femoral IABP.
I couldn't imagine being stuck like that.
With the backing of a physician who was willing to question the status quo, I started finding a way to get these patients up and moving, safely. There was no playbook. I built it one session at a time.
Eleven years and thousands of mobility sessions later, that work became the Ramsey Protocol, now published and used by teams outside all over the world.
This course is everything I learned along the way, so you can start mobilizing these patients with confidence.
You don't have to figure it out as you go like I did.
Start Safely Mobilizing With Confidence.
This Is For...
- This is for the clinician who wants to mobilize patients on a femoral IABP but doesn't know where to start.
- You've seen it done once or twice, but never learned the why behind the decisions.
- You've read the case studies, but they don't tell you what to do with your patient.
- You know one size doesn't fit all, but no one's shown you how to think through the differences.
- You're ready to mobilize — you just need the clinical reasoning to back your call.
This isn't the Ramsey Protocol in video form. It's the actual decision-making behind it — how to assess the patient in front of you and make the right call every time.
What's Inside:
- ✅ A complete mobilization framework covering the entire IABP process. From readiness to recovery, nothing is left to guesswork.
- ✅ A console and device breakdown so you always know what you're looking at. No more myths, no more confusion.
- ✅ A hemodynamic readiness checklist to know exactly what to check before you move. Know before you go.
- ✅ A pre-mobility setup walkthrough covering patient, lines, and equipment. So you're never improvising at the bedside.
- ✅ A step-by-step mobilization sequence for progressing movement safely. Built for real patients, not textbook cases.
- ✅ Abort criteria and post-activity protocols so you know exactly when to stop — and what to chart after. Clear stop signs, every time.
This course makes a very daunting and intimidating process, mobilizing critically ill patients, feel very manageable. Having someone who’s done this successfully go through the process and all the considerations was massively helpful. This will certainly positively affect a lot of patients going forward. All members of the team from RN’s to MDs, RTs and PTs, and APPs can benefit from this course.
Highly recommend this course. Very helpful, very thorough. Hands on learning with experienced providers.
Highly recommend this course. Very helpful, very thorough. Hands on learning with experienced providers.
— Becky, DNP
When Stephen comes down the hall towards your intubated patient on multiple critical meds and mechanical device support who hasn’t moved on their own in days, you always get a bit nervous….Then he brings the energy, knowledge, practicality, and encouragement to the room and suddenly that same patient is sitting mobilizing, smiling with their family member clapping for them. PT’s face a lot of barriers, even from nursing coworkers, but we are always thankful for PTs like Stephen and those he taught because they leave the patient better than they found them and everyone feels a bit of confidence, even if it was a tough session.
— Jordan, RN
After working in a cardiac ICU and completing a residency, I thought I didn’t have much left to learn. Stephen showed me that I did, and I am so grateful for that.
Stephen has a special skill for making complex concepts digestible and, more importantly, directly relatable to clinical practice. He has an uncanny ability to see every system, consideration, and connection, and then break it all down in such an organized way that it actually makes sense. He is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive in a way that inspires you to grow, ask the hard questions, and figure out the answers for yourself. His teaching has challenged the way I think, strengthened my clinical reasoning, and made me a more thoughtful clinician.
I am a better clinician and better able to serve my patients because of Stephen’s guidance, mentorship, and genuine investment in my growth.
Stephen has a special skill for making complex concepts digestible and, more importantly, directly relatable to clinical practice. He has an uncanny ability to see every system, consideration, and connection, and then break it all down in such an organized way that it actually makes sense. He is incredibly knowledgeable and supportive in a way that inspires you to grow, ask the hard questions, and figure out the answers for yourself. His teaching has challenged the way I think, strengthened my clinical reasoning, and made me a more thoughtful clinician.
I am a better clinician and better able to serve my patients because of Stephen’s guidance, mentorship, and genuine investment in my growth.
— Deb, PT, DPT, CCS
What This Course Will Actually Do For YOU
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SNEAK PEAK
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IABP Mobilization Sequence
Prepare for your next femoral IABP mobilization
Bring a repeatable process to the cardiac ICU
Get practical guidance for assessing femoral IABP patients, coordinating with your team, and progressing through safe ambulation at the bedside.
Ready to mobilize with confidence
Frequently asked questions
Does this course offer CEU/CME credit?
No. This version of the course is not accredited for CEUs, CCUs, or CME, and it can't be converted to the accredited version later. Accreditation requires that you purchase the accredited course from the start and complete it in full to earn credit.
If you need continuing education credit, choose the accredited option from our course offerings.
Do I need prior IABP experience to take this course?
No. The course starts with the fundamentals — how the device works and what the console is telling you — before moving into readiness assessment and the mobilization sequence itself. Whether you've never touched a balloon pump or you've worked around them for years but never mobilized a patient on one, this is built to meet you where you are.
Is this within my scope of practice?
This course teaches the clinical reasoning and decision-making framework behind safe IABP mobilization. Scope of practice varies by state, discipline, and institutional policy — you're responsible for confirming this aligns with your own license and your facility's protocols before applying it clinically.
How long do I have access?
You will receive lifetime access once you purchase the course. All updates and additions to the course will be yours as well.
What if my hospital doesn't currently allow IABP mobilization?
This course gives you the clinical framework and evidence-based reasoning to make the case for mobilization at your facility. If you want direct guidance on navigating the buy-in conversation with your team and attendings, check out the Team Communication & Buy-In add-on — built specifically to help you introduce this where you work, not just perform it once it's approved.
Does this cover all types of balloon pumps, or just femoral?
This course's primary focus is femoral IABP mobilization — the most common placement you'll encounter and the one the Ramsey Protocol is built around. Other placement types are discussed as well, but femoral mobilization is where the depth of the course lives.
What's the difference between this and the full CEU-accredited course?
This course gives you the core clinical skill — the full mobilization framework from readiness through recovery. The CEU-accredited version builds on that with additional modules (clinical case studies, team communication & buy-in, and what comes next with LVAD/Impella/ECMO), easy-to-digest written summaries and reference resources for every module, knowledge checks to demonstrate competency, and 4 hours of continuing education credit. If you just want the skill, this course is built for that. If you need CEU hours or want the full depth of resources, the accredited version is the better fit.
Can I get a refund if this isn't what I expected?
Due to the digital nature of these products, we do not allow refunds.
Is this just the Ramsey Protocol in video form?
No — this goes beyond the protocol itself to cover the clinical reasoning behind it: how to assess the patient in front of you, why the right approach differs patient to patient, and how to make the call yourself rather than applying one checklist to everyone.
Learn From the Clinician Who Built the Protocol.
I’m Stephen Ramsey — critical care PT, researcher, and the clinician behind the Ramsey Protocol for IABP mobility. I created this course because the gap between what PT school teaches and what the ICU demands is too wide. You’ll find me in every module, walking you through the exact framework I use at the bedside every day. No fluff — just a system that works.
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