Central Kentucky EMS agencies to begin carrying blood

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The Kentucky Blood Center has partnered with four emergency medical service agencies in Central Kentucky to allow them to begin carrying whole blood.

“Pre-hospital blood transfusions have been shown to improve patient survival rates,” Dr. Andrew Bernard, trauma medical director at UK HealthCare, said in a news release. “This partnership will enable our emergency service providers with the ability to enhance lifesaving measures prior to hospital arrival from outlying counties, enhancing their odds of recovery.”

The Georgetown/Scott County EMS, Jessamine County EMS, Lexington Fire and Emergency Services and Madison County EMS can begin carrying the blood in June, allowing them a more rapid response for patients experiencing severe blood loss en route to the hospital.

The release points to a study, published in Transfusion in 2021, that supports the importance of this practice.

The study “found that prehospital use of whole blood was associated with less intense shock on arrival in the emergency department and less mortality than a comparison group that received no prehospital transfusion, even though the cohort receiving blood was more severely injured than the comparison group,” according to the release.

Lexington’s Fire Chief Jason Wells said this program raises the standard of care.

“This partnership enhances our ability to provide advanced lifesaving treatment right at the scene in the pre-hospital setting, strengthening survival chances for patients in Fayette County and Central Kentucky,” he said in a separate release.

Officials at the blood center reminded Kentuckians that the success of initiatives like this one relies on volunteer blood donors, noting that every donation helps maintain the blood supply for local hospitals for traumas, surgeries and other medical emergencies.