Details of the patients’ conditions were not released but Fransman said all four patients had lost too much blood and were at risk of dying before they could reach the hospital. Instead, the patients received immediate transfusions and by the time they arrived at the hospital, they were stable, according to Fransman.
“A huge game changer,” said Fransman.
Grady joins a small number of hospital and ambulance services around the state and country with the training, equipment and coordination needed to perform the transfusions.
Uncontrolled bleeding is the No. 1 cause of preventable death from trauma. Nationally, it accounts for 35% of deaths from trauma before a patient can reach a hospital, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A person with uncontrolled bleeding can die in as little as five minutes, according to the Mayo Clinic.
“When you get to the hospital, it’s almost like a NASCAR pit crew approach. They’re stopping the bleeding. What we are doing is bringing this outside the hospital to get things started faster. Health care starts when you call 911 and not just when you enter hospital doors,” said Lekshmi Kumar, medical director of EMS at Grady. What we trying to do is advance care earlier.
Most people who suffer a traumatic injury don’t need a blood transfusion before getting to the hospital. Candidates for this procedure are patients losing so much blood they’re showing signs of “hemorrhagic shock,” a medical emergency that includes dangerously low blood pressure and a rapidly increasing heart rate as the body tries to pump more blood to vital organs.
Grady is the only remaining Level 1 trauma center in Atlanta, meaning it’s capable of providing care for every aspect of the most complex traumatic injuries and medical emergencies without the need to transfer patients elsewhere.
Kumar estimates the blood transfusions could help as many as 300 of Grady’s trauma patients every year.
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