If you're in an accident, a blood transfusion can sometimes be the key to saving your life.
It usually happens in an emergency room. But now, a cutting-edge pilot program is equipping Ventura County’s ambulances with the ability to perform transfusions in the field.
"It will allow them to start treatment for traumatically injured patients much sooner, " said Dr. Neil Canby, Medical Director for the Ventura County Fire Department. "We all know about the golden hour in trauma, and so this will allow us to start transfusions 20 minutes sooner, in the field, before they arrive at a hospital. By doing that, you'll decrease the risk of death, because we're giving them what they need."
"The leading cause of death in trauma that's preventable is a continuing hemorrhage, and so if you can stop the bleeding....the problem is when it's internal, and you need to get to the trauma center, we can't really stop that bleeding by putting pressure or a tourniquet on it, but the next best step is to give them the blood back," said Canby.
Related story: Lifesaver! New program to do blood transfusions in the field in Ventura County saves its first life
How many lives do they think it can save?
"We think we're going to use this maybe two, three times a month, and if that's the case, it may be two or three lives a month that we'll be able to save," said the physician.
The idea of setting up Ventura County’s rescue ambulances to do field transfusions came from firefighter and paramedic Edward Campana. Only a few agencies in the U.S. are doing this. He heard about it at a conference two years ago, and went to work building support locally. It wasn’t easy, because several agencies had to support and approve the program.
"There's a lot going on in the world, and people tend to lose faith sometimes. But this is an example of a county and a government that really cares about its citizens," said Campana. "I live here, I have three brothers who live here, a mother who lives here, and for me, it's very personal."
Campana said the pilot program is being rolled out countywide. It was introduced in Camarillo last week. Santa Paula is next, followed by Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks. After it's up and running in those communities, the program will also be added to the county's air unit, so firefighter/paramedics arriving at the scene of an emergency by helicopter can administer transfusions.
Campana demonstrated the equipment involved. There’s a tiny, high-tech refrigerator the size of a small ice chest, which preserves the blood by keeping it cold. Another device, about the size of a lunchbox, heats the blood when it’s transfused.
Vitalent, a nonprofit blood donation organization serving the Tri-Counties, is supplying the blood.
"We are so excited to be a part of this, and to have this program in Ventura County," said Vitalent's Susan Noone.
The blood will stay on the ambulances for two weeks at a time. If it isn’t used, it will be rotated back to the Medical Center for use before it expires.
"It will be issued by the Ventura County Medical Center, then issued to the ambulances, and go back to the medical center if it isn't needed," Noone said. "And it's another call for people to donate."
A seven-year study of emergency medical care in Ventura County shows that three to seven trauma cases a month might benefit from field transfusions.
The new program’s boosters say that in simple terms, it will save lives.
