In severe emergencies, paramedics often give patients IV fluids to help maintain circulation while transporting them to a hospital. But when patients lose large amounts of blood, those fluids cannot replace the blood cells and clotting factors their bodies need.
Nathan Rogers, a paramedic and blood transfusionist with Taney County Ambulance District, now has another option available to him: administering blood before a patient reaches the hospital.
“We’ll clear the line with normal saline but to clear the system,” Rogers said. “Once it gets all the air bubbles out of the line. Once we get it clear, then we put blood through.”…