Sugarcreek Fire and EMS is now the first in the state to offer a pre-hospital blood transfusion program.
Now, first responders carry cooler bags filled with plasma and red blood cells and backpacks with a hand infuser to calls. In under two minutes, responders can empty one bag of blood and then get patients moving on to area hospitals and trauma centers.
“The latest literature shows that if we can get blood products to those patients within 15 and 20 minutes from their injury, their mortality rate drops 40%,” Cody Shetler, a captain and paramedic with Sugarcreek, said. “So, getting those blood products on board sooner requires fewer blood products in the hospital and decreases mortality overall.”…