DALLAS — After a year and a half of planning, Dallas Fire-Rescue has launched a pilot program equipping select emergency vehicles with military-grade coolers carrying whole blood, allowing paramedics to administer transfusions in the field.
The vehicles are stationed at Fire Station 32 in Pleasant Grove and Fire Station 42 near Love Fiel, areas where emergency crews frequently respond to gunshot wounds, stabbings and other trauma cases, CBS News Texas reported.
Whether caused by violence, a car crash or a household accident, blood loss is the leading cause of death for Americans under 46 who experience major trauma, according to a Dallas Fire-Rescue presentation on the program.
A 2023 study of patients treated by Dallas paramedics found that up to 674 individuals could have benefited from receiving a blood transfusion before reaching the hospital.
With a limited blood supply, officials have approached whole blood programs with caution.
“It’s important that we walk before we run on the project so that we can demonstrate to the American Red Cross, to Parkland, and to other regulatory agencies that we’re good stewards of the blood supply,” Dallas Fire-Rescue Medical Director Dr. Marshal Isaacs told the city’s public safety committee.
If the six-month pilot program proves successful, the city aims to expand it, making blood available from additional fire stations across the area.
