Area first responders push to supply air ambulances with whole blood

First responders on the East End may soon have another potentially life-saving measure in their arsenal. The North Fork Volunteer Firefighter’s Association has been working to make whole blood available aboard emergency helicopters in Suffolk County. The blood would be transfused in the field pre-hospitalization for trauma patients experiencing significant blood loss.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, patients who received whole blood in the field are  more likely to survive both the immediate 24 hours after an injury and the 30 days beyond. 

“The army started doing this on battlefields and stuff like that, and now it’s coming to civilian use, because it’s saving so many lives. It’s a game changer,” said Howard Waldman, a lifelong volunteer fireman and advocate for whole blood availability for Suffolk County.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation in December 2021 that allowed whole blood to be available on air ambulances after a Binghamton man nearly lost his life in a tractor accident. Because a Pennsylvania crew was first on the scene and they were authorized to administer whole blood, his life was saved. 

On Sept. 18, Gov. Hochul signed additional legislation that expanded the availability of whole blood for trauma patients to ground ambulances as well.

Mr. Waldman’s son, Cameron Waldman, an attending physician at Albany Medical Center, is a medical consultant for the whole blood effort in Suffolk County. He recently recounted his experiences with these patients to the Suffolk County Legislature. 

“We’ve had situations in Albany where the EMS crew gets the trauma patient, they’re en route, they’re 20 minutes from the hospital, and then [the patient goes] into cardiac arrest,” Dr. Waldman said. “And hearing that report in the hospital, waiting for this patient to arrive, [you know] they just need the blood a little sooner, to give them that 20 minutes to get to us.”

Rather than administering different components of blood, such as plasma or platelets, trauma patients need to increase their total volume. Their injuries have resulted in significant total loss, which imperils their life. “A lot of times in that hospital, if you were to have low blood counts, you can give separate blood products to those patients. That’s pretty common. And one reason you do that is because it makes the resource go a little bit further,” said Dr. Waldman. “But in the setting of trauma, it’s a little different. In trauma, we get whole blood, and that’s kind of like everything all at once.” 

Stony Brook University Hospital, the region’s only Level 1 trauma center, cares for the most severe trauma cases in Suffolk County. Stony Brook Medicine officials said in a statement, “Discussions of increased collaboration and coordinated care are ongoing with the Suffolk County Police Aviation Section. They are committed to working with our health care system and Stony Brook University Hospital’s Blood Bank to develop a process to carry and administer blood on the helicopter and ensure the necessary equipment and supplies are readily available utilizing properly trained staff. Our flight paramedic provides the clinical care in the helicopter to deliver the highest standards for patient care in a safe environment.” 

District 7 County Legislator Dominick Thorne, who also chairs the legislative committee of fire rescue and emergency services, is working with colleagues to see if whole blood is a viable option for trauma in Suffolk County. 

“Blood is the only way of getting oxygen around the body, but [since] we have 11 area hospitals that are pretty close to each other, we can usually get somebody to a trauma center where they can get whole blood delivered, or blood delivered in an emergency,” he said. “There are some isolated cases on the East End, Fire Island, things like that, where the transport side would be significantly different.” 

Mr. Thorne outlined steps that need to be taken at the county level. “Of course, it would have to be widely regulated, because, you know, blood can’t just be left out. It’s not like an IV fluid; it has to be maintained at certain temperature. So the first step would begin to get Regional Emergency Medical Services Council to adopt a protocol, and then they would go on to set up storage, transportation, [and decide] who’s allowed to administer it, and under what conditions you administer it. You know, there’s a little bit of work behind that,” he said.

Proponents are optimistic that this program could make a huge difference for East End communities, and Suffolk County at large. “Only 1% of the country is doing it now, but it’s starting to take hold. And if the whole country went this route, this protocol, between 40,000 and 60,000 lives a year could be saved,” said Mr. Waldman.