Every passing minute matters for patients in need of emergency blood transfusions and now Maryland's first responders in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore will carry whole blood on board for air-lifted patients, according to an Aug. 22 news release.
The addition of whole blood on board the state's fleet of emergency air-lift helicopters will allow first-responders to perform blood transfusions in the field to patients who have suffered extreme trauma.
Whole blood has not been separated into different components and it "contains all of the factors necessary for optimal clotting and has become the blood product of choice for the resuscitation of patients with extreme bleeding at leading trauma centers across the United States and elsewhere over the last five years," according to the release.
"The clock for the Golden Hour starts ticking at the time of injury, not at hospital arrival. If a patient's condition worsens in the field, or they have a cardiac arrest before arriving to us, their survival chances are markedly diminished," Thomas Scalea, MD, the physician-in-chief at R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center and the system chief for critical care services for the University of Maryland Medical System.
The second helicopter carrying whole blood was deployed in July — two months after the state deployed the first one in May.
Prior to this, crews received extensive training on transfusing blood in the field as well as guidelines to inform their decision-making process about which patients may be in most need of such a service.
The whole blood units that are not used are given back to UMMC's Blood Bank to ensure nothing goes to waste.