Allegheny Health Network Prehospital Care Launches Prehospital Blood Program

Initiative expands access to life-saving blood transfusions in communities across South Western Pennsylvania

PITTSBURGH- Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Prehospital Care Services has launched a new prehospital blood program that will enable specially trained AHN paramedics to administer blood products to critically injured and ill patients before they reach the hospital.

The program is being deployed in phases across five AHN Paramedic Response Units (PRUs) serving the Belle Vernon, Tarentum, Monroeville, Wexford and northern Butler County areas.

Each regional response team features its own specially equipped PRU vehicle, staffed by a paramedic, that provides support during high-priority emergency calls such as vehicle accidents, cardiac arrest, and other life-threatening emergencies. Each vehicle within the five deployment areas will be able to carry Type O blood products in temperature-monitored refrigeration units.

When the initiative is completed, it will represent one of Pennsylvania's largest hospital-affiliated prehospital ground-support blood programs.

Recent updates to Pennsylvania EMS protocols and scope-of-practice guidelines now allow specially trained paramedics to administer blood products in the field, expanding access to this critical intervention for patients experiencing life-threatening emergencies.

Prehospital blood transfusion is an emerging best practice in emergency medicine that allows clinicians to begin replacing blood lost through traumatic injury and other life-threatening emergencies before a patient arrives at a hospital.

According to the Stop the Bleed coalition, 31,000 -60,000 Americans die each year from severe blood loss, often within minutes of injury. Research has shown that earlier access to blood products can improve outcomes for patients experiencing severe hemorrhage, where minutes can make a critical difference.

"Providing blood transfusions in the field gives our paramedics another powerful tool to help care for individuals facing serious medical emergencies," said Bob Twaddle, vice president, AHN Prehospital Care Services. "By bringing this capability directly into the communities we serve, we can begin critical treatment sooner and help improve outcomes, particularly when every second counts."

AHN has eight PRUs across its footprint, with the first mobilized in 1988 in the Allegheny Valley region. Since then, AHN has launched other response units in Allegheny, Beaver, Butler and Westmoreland counties. The vehicles and the response teams attached to them assist local agencies in providing enhanced emergency medical care to the region's residents.

As part of this new program, the five units with specialized refrigeration systems for enhanced temperature control will now carry lifesaving blood products. The technology allows blood products to remain safely stored, reducing waste of a valuable community resource.

According the Prehospital Blood Transfusion Coalition, while the numbers are increasing, less than 3% of eligible agencies currently carry blood products, often due to the prohibitive costs of launching and maintaining a program for small EMS agencies, as well as persistent shortages of blood nationwide.

Twaddle says that, in addition to equipping the PRUs with the necessary refrigeration systems, the unit teams will work with AHN hospitals to rotate blood products before they expire, minimizing waste.

Last May, Ross/West View EMS announced its prehospital blood program being offered in partnership with AHN. Three days after the program's launch, Ross/West View performed its first field transfusion.

AHN Prehospital Care Services includes physician-led EMS medical direction, education and training programs, quality assurance, medical special operations, emergency medical services, EMS communications centers, and critical care air and ground transport through AHN LifeFlight.

To learn more about AHN Prehospital Care Services, visit ahn.org/services/prehospital.

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