The big picture
Fort Bend County’s EMS achieved the milestone by providing blood transfusions to critical patients on-the-go rather than waiting for patients to arrive at a hospital. The program, which launched May 17, is one of the Gulf Coast region’s first whole blood programs providing blood pre-hospital, alongside San Antonio and Sugar Land.
“The ability to administer whole blood at the scene of an emergency has been a game-changer in pre-hospital care,” EMS Chief Dudley Wait said. “Every second counts in trauma situations, when someone is bleeding to death, and having whole blood available gives our patients a significantly better chance of survival before they even reach the hospital.”
A closer look
Whole blood is carried on four centralized supervisor vehicles, which can be dispatched when an emergency call comes in, Wait said. Each vehicle carrying blood cost approximately $7,000 to outfit.
To carry blood, ambulances are specialized with additional equipment, including:
- A thermally protected medical transportation system
- An IV fluid warmer
- A freezer
Several recipients, including Cameron Marler, shared their experiences of receiving whole blood via Fort Bend EMS at a March 18 news conference. Marler said paramedics acted fast to save his life after he severed a major artery in his leg while clearing storm debris at his grandparents' home after Hurricane Beryl last July.
“It was an absolute miracle—cutting that vein and artery I had about three minutes to bleed out and [EMS] made it there in two,” he said. “If it had not been for their fast actions, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t be able to go home to my 5-year-old or my 3-year-old, and I wouldn’t have another baby on the way due in October. Not only that, but it saved my leg.”
Michelle VanDyke had a similar situation. After what seemed like her “dream home birth” to her third daughter on Jan. 2, VanDyke said her midwife became worried when she began to lose too much blood after delivering her baby.
Fort Bend EMS was able to respond and administer whole blood before she arrived at the hospital, helping to keep her alert and awake on the way to receive further treatment, she said.
“There’s not enough words to say how thankful I am for the speed at which the EMS came to my house and was able to give me blood that definitely saved my life, because I fully believe that is the reason I am able to raise my daughters,” VanDyke said. “That’s been a really tough thought to think that without [the whole blood program] I wouldn’t be here today.”
Both recipients echoed the importance of blood donations to continue to provide for programs such as the whole blood program that saved their lives.
“All I can do is thank these heroes and encourage everyone to please go give blood, because I am standing here because it makes a difference,” Marler said.
How to help
Fort Bend EMS and Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center are calling on residents to donate blood, especially those with low titer Type O positive blood types, said Rebecca Pfardrescher, hospital relations manager for Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center. The center relies on 1,000 blood donations daily to ensure the organization collects enough for area hospitals and EMS programs.
“The ability to administer whole blood in the field has truly transformed trauma response, giving critically injured patients a better chance of survival even before they get to the hospital,” she said. “The success of this initiative depends on a study supply of low titer O positive blood, which is a universal type for trauma patients.”
Center officials are also looking for locations to host blood drives, such as businesses, community groups and churches, Pfardrescher said. To learn more about hosting a blood drive or to sign up, click here.
Going forward
Fort Bend County EMS is striving to spread the whole blood technology to other emergency responders, including working with state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, to obtain $10 million to help agencies begin whole blood start-ups throughout the state, Wait said.
“We need to help and work to get this technology and this lifesaving product out to every EMS agency in Texas,” he said. “Texas is a big state—and it’s difficult sometimes to manage it here in Fort Bend County—but we think it should be everywhere in Texas. The farther you are away from a hospital, the more critical it is for this.”
