Upper Darby Paramedic Rescue — Site of Blood Program Approval
Upper Darby Paramedic Rescue crews gave a patient a unit of blood in the field on Nov. 9 after responding to a call involving internal hemorrhaging and signs of hypovolemia, with the patient’s blood pressure measured at 60/40. The patient was transported to a hospital with improved vital signs, and officials said the crew’s quick action may have saved the patient’s life.
The township’s Paramedic Rescue, known as Station 500, was approved on Oct. 10 by the Pennsylvania Bureau of EMS and the Delaware County Regional EMS Office to carry blood products on its vehicles, according to a township press release. That approval made Upper Darby Paramedic Rescue the first Delaware County-based emergency services agency cleared to carry blood on its trucks, per the same release. As reported by Delco Times, Life Plasma Blood Center delivered the blood products to Upper Darby paramedics on Nov. 9, the same day the unit was used on the patient in crisis.
How the New Equipment Works
Under the new program, Upper Darby paramedic units will carry O positive packed red blood cells and liquid plasma, giving crews the ability to start transfusions before a patient ever reaches the hospital. Any unused blood products will be cycled back to a blood bank for reallocation every 36 days, the Delco Times report notes. Life Plasma Blood Center has also committed that blood collected from Upper Darby community members will stay in and be used within the community, per the same account…