BCEHS to carry blood supplies from Kamloops
BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), an air ambulance service based in British Columbia, Canada, has partnered with the Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) to keep blood at its Kamloops base
The partnership will enable BCEHS to keep blood products on hand at all times onboard the base’s air ambulance helicopter. Blood prepared by RIH Transfusion Medical Services will courier blood products to BCEHS’s Kamloops base, where it will be stored in a dedicated fridge.
Blood will be resupplied twice a week, while unused blood left over from previous deliveries will be returned to the hospital to prevent waste.
Previously, only paramedics dispatched from Vancouver International Airport and the heli-base in Parksville, Vancouver Island.
Speaking to Kamloops-based news outlet CFJC Today, Brian Reichert, Critical Care Paramedic and Acting Chief of Station 370 said: “It is going to be a game changer for the people we serve. We cover a large area with a lot of boat traffic, all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and other vehicles on our highways. For us to have a blood product for someone who has suffered an incident, will buy us the time we need to get them to hospital and into surgery to get the help they need.”
Nova Scotia’s own EHS LifeFlight air ambulance began carrying blood supplies onboard its own aircraft in June 2020.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca was a Junior Editor at the Voyageur Group. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.