CLEAR CREEK COUNTY, Colo. — Paramedics in Clear Creek County will soon start carrying a life-saving tool in their ambulances: whole blood.
It’s part of an effort to increase survival rates following car crashes and other traumatic events in a county that’s miles away from a hospital.
“It’s a long drive,” said Clear Creek EMS Captain John Manasjan. “Bringing blood to them sooner is huge.”
Currently, paramedics carry saline and pain medication. Beginning next week, they’ll also have quick access to Type O whole blood, which can be administered to patients in the ambulance on the way to hospitals in the Denver area.
It’s a trip that can take well over an hour, meaning patients can hemorrhage or lose blood on the way.
Last year, Clear Creek EMS responded to approximately 1,800 calls, and 900 patients needed transport out of the county.
“What we’re trying to do is provide these patients the opportunity to live long enough to get to the trauma center to have their trauma definitively taken care of, and it works really well for that,” said Dr. Scott Branney.
Branney is a physician at St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, where many of these patients arrive.
He’s also the medical director for Clear Creek EMS, which along with Grand County, aims to become the first EMS team in the state to carry whole blood.
Colorado Springs Fire announced Thursday that select apparatus there will soon begin carrying whole blood.
Branney said specifically they need Type O blood, which is universal.
"It’s very safe, and it’s very effective," said Branney. "We’re not trying to make someone normal again, we’re just trying to get them just enough blood in this setting to keep them alive to get them to a major trauma center to get the cause of their bleeding addressed.”
The goal is for people in the county to donate blood that stays in the county through this program.
"If we're going to be able to give this life-saving product in the field we need people to be able to donate that, and that needs to happen continuously,” said Manasjan.
Clear Creek Emergency Medical Services will host a blood drive with Vitalant on April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 405 Argentine Street in Georgetown.
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