Blood Treatment
BY JIM FORBES, PUBLISHER
It has long been established and understood that minutes, and even seconds, are critical in the emergency response to patient trauma. Advances in response time and treatment protocols have dramatically improved mortality rates.
But when in-field trauma patients are suffering hemorrhagic shock, a severe loss of blood, in an out-of-hospital setting, the loss of life is significant. An August report in “The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery” concludes in part, “Preventable death due to prehospital hemorrhage is substantial and impacts all persons across the country.”
Since the 80ʻs trauma patients have been given transfusions in medivac helicopters and ambulances transporting them between hospitals.
But until recently, the report states, “One essential battlefield tool that has yet to be widely adopted in civilian practice is the early use of blood transfusions by 9-1-1 ground emergency medical services (EMS).“ It cites, “…estimates that annually between 54,000 and 900,000 patients” may benefit from Pre-Hospital Blood Transfusions (PHBT).
Residents of The City of Corona will soon be one of the few communities in the nation to benefit from PHBTʻs.
The Corona Fire Department has disclosed that it and LifeStream Blood Bank have entered into a partnership to bring PHBT capabilities to the Circle City.
Among the barriers to the implementation of these programs nationwide, has been a reliable supply of blood products. In a released statement, Corona FD notes, “LifeStream’s expertise and resources ensure a reliable supply of life-saving blood products, and the department will host regular blood drives to support this initiative. Community members can contribute by donating at LifeStream’s site. In addition to LifeStream this program is also supported by the American Red Cross who provides blood products to local region trauma centers.”
While not citing Corona specifically, The Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery concludes, “By being innovative and scaling up the implementation of PHBTs across the county, we can prevent the deaths of countless patients with this lifesaving intervention.”
According to Corona FD Fire Apparatus Engineer and PIO, Daniel Yonan, the blood product will be carried on Medic Squad 1, based at Fire Station 1, 540 Magnolia Ave and Medic Squad 3, based at Fire Station 3, 790 S Smith Ave.
For More Visit www.zapinin.com/corona.
