Communication Builds Our Community
Communication Builds Our Community
Polk's emergency responders are getting a new tool that may help save lives in the future. Several Polk County Fire Rescue (PCFR) Battalion Chiefs will begin carrying whole blood on their trucks and have the ability to administer blood transfusions to patients in the field. Blood for the effort will be supplied by OneBlood, which operates a mobile blood-donation bus across Polk County. Polk County Fire Rescue will maintain a ready supply of blood through coordinated exchanges of the blood with Lakeland Regional Health.
The "Big Red Bus" can be found at various locations around Polk as it collects whole blood donations that can save the lives of accident victims.
"Trauma situations happen in the blink of an eye and blood transfusions are often needed to help save the person's life," said Susan Forbes, OneBlood Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Public Relations.
Whole blood kits will be carried by three of the seven battalion chiefs. When a patient is in need of a blood transfusion on-scene, the nearest battalion chief will be dispatched to the transporting ambulance, so paramedics can begin the transfusion protocol.
"Studies show that when a patient receives a blood transfusion even 15 minutes prior to arriving at the hospital their chances of survival increase," said Polk County Fire Rescue Medical Director Paul Banerjee, D.O.
By making whole blood kits available, Polk County Fire Rescue joins an esteemed group of less than 2% of EMS agencies in the United States currently offering a whole blood program.
"This is a tremendous step for us in advanced pre-hospital care. Without the partnerships with OneBlood and Lakeland Regional Health, our first responders would not be able to provide this lifesaving care to our patients," said Banerjee.
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