Initiative a partnership with SunCoast Blood Centers
“In alignment with its mission of saving lives, the Sarasota County Fire Department (SCFD) has partnered with SunCoast Blood Centers to implement a groundbreaking prehospital whole blood transfusion program,” the Fire Department has announced.
“This initiative aims to provide life-saving blood transfusions to patients suffering from severe bleeding or traumatic injuries before they arrive at the hospital,” a news release explains.
“Our firefighter/EMTs and firefighter/paramedics perform life-saving interventions every day across Sarasota County and transport more than 100 patients a day to local hospitals,” said Sarasota County Fire Chief David Rathbun in the release. “Adding this tool in their EMS toolkit will help us to save even more lives in our community,” he pointed out in the release.
Under this program, Fire Department EMS captains are trained to administer whole blood transfusions directly at the scene of an emergency, the release says. The term “whole blood” refers to blood that remains complete, with no components — such as plasma — removed, “making it highly effective for treating patients with major blood loss,” the release explains. Traditionally, the release adds, “saline has been used as a replacement fluid for patients experiencing significant blood loss. Whole blood transfusions better address the critical need to replenish lost blood, improving survival rates for these patients,” the release adds.
“Delivered in a sterile, warm, and safe manner, this advanced procedure offers a much better chance of survival during emergencies,” the release continues.
“Blood collected and supplied by the SunCoast Blood Centers is stored in temperature-controlled, monitored medical storage devices” and made available to SCFD EMS captains, the release says. These captains can transport the blood to medical incidents, “ensuring life-saving transfusions happen immediately,” the release adds.
“Thanks to SunCoast Blood Centers and generous blood donors,” the release notes, the transfusion of patients by SCFD EMS captains will more than doubling the odds of a person’s surviving and making it home from the hospital.
In the release, Scott Bush, CEO of SunCoast Blood Bank, emphasized the importance of this program: “These transfusions have been instrumental in cardiac patients making full recoveries and kept hemorrhaging patients from bleeding out. However, supplies are limited, so we must reserve this procedure for the most critical of patients.”
Community residents can support this life-saving initiative by donating whole blood and specifically stating this is for the SCFD whole blood program, the release points out. “Whole blood donation takes around 15 minutes and can be completed every 56 days,” the release points out. Learn more about donor eligibility on the SunCoast Blood Center website.
Those individuals who are able to donate blood may do so in the following ways, the release says:
- Stopping by any SCFD Open House this year. Dates and locations of open houses may be found here.
- Visiting the nearest SunCoast Blood Center donation location by looking up a blood drive on the SunCoast Blood Centers website.
• Calling 1-866-97-BLOOD.