Prehospital blood program can help save lives
Prehospital blood from AdventHealth blood drives is now onboard with South Metro Fire Rescue Emergency Medical Service supervisors, offering a critical service in our community. Blood is kept in specialized coolers with constant temperature monitoring.
South Metro Fire Rescue (SMFR) recently partnered with AdventHealth in a prehospital blood program, the first in the Denver metro area and one of the few in the country. This groundbreaking collaboration puts two units of O-negative blood with SMFR and supervisors of emergency medical services (EMS), allowing these first responders to begin blood transfusions before the patient ever arrives at the hospital.
O-negative blood is the most common type used for transfusions and is considered a universal donor for blood, making it the most useful for the largest number of patients. Studies from the military show that overall healing dramatically increases when a patient receives blood within the first 30 minutes after injury. Benefits include quicker recovery, shorter hospital stays, less overall blood required and fewer deaths.
The way it works: SMFR receives packed red blood cells in specialized coolers from a blood bank organized by AdventHealth hospitals. The coolers have constant temperature monitors, ensuring the blood is kept at the ideal temperature of 39 degrees.
Blood can be kept in the coolers for up to 72 hours with a shelf life of up to 42 days. To ensure that none of the blood is wasted and used within optimal time, SMFR changes the blood out every 24 hours and returns any unused blood to the hospital.
This new program is funded by the AdventHealth Foundation, ensuring patients are not financially responsible for this service. Prehospital blood treatment is available to anyone receiving emergency care from SMFR, regardless of which hospital they are transported to.
Though not widely available, programs like this exist in San Antonio, New Orleans and Washington D.C. Currently, only about 1% of agencies nationwide offer prehospital blood through EMS services.
Dr. Jonathan Apfelbaum is the medical director of SMFR and a long-time emergency physician at AdventHealth Parker. His research, persistence and energy were instrumental in developing this partnership and program.
Dr. Apfelbaum said, “I always tell my crews, take care of every patient as if they were your own family. The whole goal is to do what is best for our community.”
SMFR expects to use prehospital blood about three times a month. The first responders cover an area of more than 300 square miles and serve more than 600,000 people.
By Celeste McNeil; photo courtesy of SMFR
