COLORADO SPRINGS — Paramedics with the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) have been cleared to give blood transfusions in the field.
Through a partnership with UCHealth they are the first in the state allowed to carry and give whole blood to people who are bleeding out at a trauma scene.
“We want to be on the cutting edge and be innovative,” said Chief Randy Royal with Colorado Springs Fire Department.
“There's such a high percentage of people dying from hemorrhagic or blood loss, shock and bleeding out in the field because we couldn't stop the bleeding and get blood into them soon enough,” said UCHealth Southern Region Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Steinbruner.
Now, CSFD Medical Lieutenants will carry blood in their rigs 24 hours a day.
Whole blood will be kept in specialized coolers that monitor and maintain temperature specific to blood storage.
Another medical tool warms the blood as it goes into a patient.
“So, it doesn't cause further injury to the patient by cooling them down, we want to keep those shock patients warm,” said CSFD Medical Lieutenant, Joey Buttenwieser.
The sooner blood is given to someone who is bleeding out raises the odds of survival and reduces potential permanent damage to organs.
“There's a cascade of things that happen when you're injured, where the body is screaming for oxygenated blood and doesn't have it,” said Steinbruner.
Whole blood given before or during a 15 minute ambulance ride to the hospital saves lives.
In cities like San Antonio, Texas where first responders carry whole blood the data shows impressive outcomes.
“They've seen that 40% plus to 50% savings of people that would have led to death in the field,” said Royal.
“This is such a lifesaving thing,” said Steinbruner. “[A] 40%...decrease in mortality is something that you see very little of in medicine.”
Funding to launch the program came through donors supporting the UCHealth Memorial Hospital Foundation.
“The UCHealth Foundation, who once they heard about this voted unanimously to support this,” said UCHealth Southern Region, President and CEO, Lonnie Cramer.
The foundation raised just over $250,000 and is working on getting more support from the community to raise another $100,000 needed to complete the initial budget.
The Colorado Springs Fire Department will start carrying whole blood at the first of May.
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