Pre-hospital blood transfusions ‘making a real difference’ a year on
Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) is celebrating its one-year anniversary of carrying blood onboard its helicopters and rapid response vehicle.
Credit: WAA
Mark Bryant (third from left) who received pre-hospital blood transfusions from Wiltshire Air Ambulance on 3 September 2015 meets the crew who came to his aid (l-r) HEMS paramedic Dan Tucker, Critical Care Paramedic Ross Culligan and Pilot Matt Wilcock.
In the UK, Wiltshire Air Ambulance (WAA) is celebrating its one-year anniversary of carrying blood onboard its helicopters and rapid response vehicle. WAA’s critical care paramedics and doctors were able to give 35 pre-hospital blood transfusions over the course of the year.
Before the helicopters started carrying blood, WAA estimated that one to two patients per month would benefit from a transfusion procedure before hospital, but found in actual fact that an average of three patients were helped by a transfusion. Of the 35 patients given a pre-hospital blood transfusion over the year, 28 survived to reach hospital.
Two units of O-negative blood are delivered to WAA’s operations centre in Devizes on a daily basis from Southmead Hospital, Bristol, by blood bike charity Freewheelers EVS. Unused blood is sent back to the hospital after 24 hours and re-stored in Southmead Hospital’s blood bank, helping to prevent any waste.
Richard Miller, critical care paramedic at WAA, spoke to AMR TV a year ago when the charity started to use pre-hospital blood transfusions (watch the interview below). A year on, he said that ‘carrying blood is making a real difference’ to patients. He continued: “Being able to give blood transfusions at the scene of an incident gives us extra vital minutes to get patients to hospital for them to receive emergency care.”
David Philpott, chief executive of WAA, added: “Carrying blood onboard Wiltshire Air Ambulance has proven to be of real benefit to patients and in most cases it has been lifesaving. Working with our partners, we are proud to offer this enhancement to the service that our crews provide to seriously ill and injured patients.”
AirMed & Rescue TV Episode 1 from AirMed Rescue on Vimeo.