Interior air ambulances now providing emergency blood transfusions

Residents in the Interior of B.C. now have better access to blood transfusions in critical incidents that require an air ambulance.

A new partnership between Interior Health and B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) has made blood products available at all times on ambulance helicopters dispatched from Station 370 in Kamloops.

The blood products, which BCEHS will have full-time access to through Royal Inland Hospital, will be kept aboard air ambulances to provide life saving blood transfusions in the event of a patient being in critical condition and bleeding heavily.

BCEHS crews will also be able to re-supply their blood products in emergency situations from Kelowna General Hospital, as trauma patients are often transferred to that hospital.

“It is going to be a game changer for the people we serve,” says Brian Reichert, critical care paramedic and acting chief of Station 370.

“We cover a large area with a lot of boat traffic, ATVs, motorcycles, and other vehicles on our highways. For us to have a blood product for someone who has suffered an incident, will buy us the time we need to get them to hospital and into surgery to get the help they need.”

Traumatic incidents account for most cases in which blood transfusions are needed, but some medical conditions can also result in significant blood loss, and this partnership will help those patients while they are transferred to hospital for further treatment.

Critical care paramedics have already used blood stored on an air ambulance once in the Interior this summer, when BCEHS was dispatched to transport an individual involved in a motor vehicle incident to hospital.

The blood is prepared at Royal Inland Hospital and then taken to the BCEHS station where it’s stored in a special fridge. When the helicopters are called out, the blood is taken on board in a special temperature-controlled and secure cooler.

The station is resupplied with two fresh units of blood twice a week. If blood goes unused, it is returned to hospital.

“At BCEHS, we’re always looking for ways to improve pre-hospital emergency care for British Columbians, whether they’re in Kamloops or in the Kootenays,” says Dr. Mike Christian, chief medical officer at BCEHS.

“We’re so pleased to partner with Interior Health on this innovative program that will allow our critical care paramedics to give patients life-saving blood transfusions as quickly as possible when minutes and seconds count.”

Prior to this partnership, pre-hospital blood was only available to critical care paramedics who were dispatched from the Vancouver International area and from Parksville on Vancouver Island.