This month, Dallas Fire-Rescue is embarking on a new chapter with a pilot program that could mean the difference between life and death for trauma patients.
DFR paramedics will soon begin administering pre-hospital blood transfusions in ambulances, giving critically injured patients a fighting chance before they even reach the hospital.
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WATCH HEREAccording to a memo by the city posted last month, the fire department has partnered with Parkland Health and the American Red Cross to secure the necessary equipment and blood supply.
The city’s Office of the Medical Director will provide clinical oversight of the pilot program, including the training of DFR paramedics and EMS field supervisors. The Red Cross is also helping inspect fire facilities to ensure everything is up to standards.
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SIGN UP Based on the currently expected completion dates of the contract amendment and site visit, the program is currently expected to launch later this month, according to the memo.
For now, the pilot will start with two response units – one at Fire Station 42 near Love Field and another at Station 32 in Pleasant Grove. Both will respond to trauma calls across the city, where blood transfusions could make a difference in cases of shootings, stabbings, car crashes, and other major injuries.
After a six-month trial run, the program could expand citywide if it’s successful in increasing patient survival rates.
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“By Dallas Fire Rescue taking on this challenge of pre-hospital transfusions, ultimately that's going to make it so that injured people, when they get to the hospitals, are not as sick as they would otherwise,” said Courtney Edwards, Director of Trauma Community Outreach and BioTel EMS at Parkland Health. “So we really are working together as a team to take care of patients across the city.”
Edwards, who has worked for Parkland’s Trauma department for 20 years, hopes this prehospital blood transfusion program will set a new standard in North Texas.
About 180 fire departments across the country are adopting similar programs, including Austin and San Antonio. However, in North Texas, only Frisco, Sachse, and Parker County have implemented such programs, despite Dallas-Fort Worth being the fourth most populated region in the nation.
According to the Dallas Morning News in-depth report on the issue, health leaders cite the numerous competing hospital systems, varying EMS agencies’ needs for blood, and funding as challenges to widespread adoption.
DONATING SAVES LIVES
The next hurdle for programs like this will be maintaining a steady blood supply.
Parkland officials stress that community blood donations will be crucial to keeping programs like this running. The hospital is one of the largest users of blood products in DFW.
“There is no other substitute than human blood. That is the only way – through the generosity of individuals who give – that you can truly save a life,” said Edwards. “How many people can say that by knowing and giving a few minutes of your day in the grand scheme of things, you can truly help people and save lives?”
This winter season, most blood centers nationwide see a decrease in collections due to illness and/or weather-related incidents. The challenge is that when high schools are not in session, collection centers are not able to host those blood drives. The blood collected from high school drives contributes as much as 20% to the annual collections.
January was National Blood Donation Month to help raise awareness.
“From national statistics, every two seconds, there's someone across the United States that needs a blood product,” said Edwards. “So the need is absolutely there.”
For more information about donating blood in North Texas, visit www.carterbloodcare.org. You can also click here to search the closest Red Cross blood donation center near you.
