Carrying and Administering Lifesaving Prehospital Blood

When New Hanover (North Carolina) Regional Medical Center’s AirLink teams began carrying prehospital blood in September 2017, patients experiencing hemorrhagic shock gained the ability to receive lifesaving oxygen-carrying red blood cells while being transported to the trauma center. Prehospital blood transfusions are known to increase 24-hour survival while also decreasing the total amount of blood needed during hospitalization, but are only available on about half of the EMS helicopters in the United States. In a testament to the need for prehospital blood transfusions, the first patient to receive this lifesaving service was just four days after the blood was added to the helicopters. Increased Demand Adding blood to AirLink created new demand for blood from the American Red Cross and the NHRMC blood bank. Each helicopter base needed to have two units on the helicopter at all times as well as two units in a storage refrigerator available as a replacement following blood administration. The NHRMC AirLink team saw this increased demand as an opportunity to give back to the region and reached out to form a partnership between AirLink and the Red Cross. This was done with the understanding that if there was going to be an increase in blood availability to those in need, the entire region needed to have an increase in the supply of blood on hand at all times. Throughout 2018, AirLink has been running a campaign to promote the need for blood donation as well as to help allevia...
Source: JEMS Patient Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Trauma Exclusive Articles Source Type: news