First responder stresses importance of pre-hospital blood transfusions
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WCIA) — Adam Hagar, the Deputy Chief of the Mehlville Fire Protection District in the St. Louis-area, has saved countless lives in his time serving his community. One that sticks with him is a patient from earlier this year, who was suffering from a ruptured varicose vein.
Ruptured varicose veins rarely are fatal, but the deputy chief recounted the bleeding made this patient “critically ill”.
“He had deteriorated significantly secondary to hemorrhage,” Hagar said at a news conference Thursday. “And when our staff arrived, we were able to provide him with what I would categorize as lifesaving blood product.”
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Hagar said that call sold him the necessity of pre-hospital transfusions. The industry standard for paramedics is to carry normal saline, which held sustains patients before the hospital, but giving patients blood often leads to better outcomes.
“The opportunity to reduce the need for those blood products and reduce length of hospital stay is directly correlated with pre-hospital transfusion,” the deputy chief said. “We’re able to get people out of the hospital a bit faster, requiring less intervention, which leads to better outcomes and better recoveries.”
He said every bleeding patient in ambulances deserves to be given blood while they are driven to the hospital.
“Any time you have a chance to give someone some time back, you should try to do that,” Hagar said.
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ImpactLife officials said they are proud with EMS organizations in multiple jurisdictions that are now providing pre-hospital transfusion. In Illinois, ImpactLife has partnered with OSF Life Flight in Bloomington and Air Evac Lifeteam to provide the materials for pre-hospital transfusions.
With the temperature warming up, ImpactLife said the seasonal changes often signal the higher need for donated blood, so much that officials call the period between Memorial Day and Labor Day “trauma season.” This is due to an uptick of accidents from outdoor activities like mountain biking, driving and riding all-terrain vehicles, and rock climbing.
“We can continue to see those needs and anticipate continuing to see those needs throughout the summer,” said Amanda Hess, ImpactLife’s VP of Donor Relations and Marketing.
The American Red Cross reported earlier this year the organization saw the lowest number of people giving blood in 20 years.
More information about donating blood to Impact Life can be found on their website.
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