By Bill Carey
EMS1
WASHINGTON — In April, D.C. Fire and EMS launched its Whole Blood Program, enabling patients to receive blood before reaching the hospital, with trauma doctors noting its impact on survival.
George Washington University Hospital Chief of Trauma Surgery Dr. Babak Sarani said patients with severe blood loss often didn’t survive long after reaching the hospital before infield transfusions were available, WTOP reported.
“The Whole Blood Program has bought them 20-30 minutes of life, which is key for that transport in the ambulance,” Sarani said. “Patients would show up with essentially nothing left and they would just die.”
Sarani recalled a young man shot in the chest in Southeast D.C. Despite paramedic’s efforts, including IV fluids and a chest needle, the patient repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe,” and died before reaching the hospital.
“The Whole Blood Program would have saved that guy’s life, and that’s the most clear example of what I can give you,” Sarani said. “What he ran out of was time. What the Whole Blood Program buys you is time.”
D.C. Fire and EMS Capt. Derek McMahan praised the program, saying, “It has bought them more time in the field, us more time in the field, and potentially expanded the possibility of surgery. Previously, it wasn’t a possibility.”
Sarani noted D.C. is fortunate to have an EMS service “aggressive with the program,” unlike some areas where transfusions, especially for young women, are avoided due to potential pregnancy risks. In D.C., those transfusions are done.
