Milwaukee County EMS system makes history by offering blood transfusions on site to victims of blood loss

GLENDALE, Wis. (CBS 58) – Critically ill patients in Milwaukee County will now have access to lifesaving care, faster.

Milwaukee County will be the first county in the state of Wisconsin to offer blood transfusions in the field. It will also be the first fire-based emergency medical service system in the nation to do so.

“We are moving into a new era of pre-hospital care,” said Dr. Ben Weston, the chief health policy advisor of Milwaukee County.

A few minutes can be the difference between life and death. The Milwaukee County EMS system is making sure each minute counts towards saving its residents.

“People that work in this field come to work every day wanting to make a difference in people’s lives,” said Chief Robert Whitaker of the North Shore Fire Department.

EMS systems across the nation have depended on regular IV fluids to treat people in the field who are losing severe amounts of blood. Medical experts say mortality rates of people who do not receive blood on scene can be upwards of 30%.

“It doesn’t allow the blood to do its essential task of carrying oxygen to the brain and to the heart,” said Dr. Weston.

With blood transfusions, those mortality rates decreased to 7%, or one in every 10 people.

“With the whole blood transfusions available in the field, our EMS teams can more than double the odds of survival of those facing devastating blood loss injuries,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

On Monday, the first blood units were picked up from Froedtert and will now be available in four Milwaukee County Fire EMS systems, including the Milwaukee Fire Department, South Milwaukee Fire Department, Greenfield Fire Department, and North Shore Fire Department. Crowley says the hope is to expand the program to all 14 fire departments in the county.

Each ambulance will have two bags of blood that will be kept in a monitored cooler for up to one week. Treml says no blood will be wasted because of the exchange program between the county EMS system and hospitals.

“They’ll get returned to us with a week left and then we can use them at the hospital,” said Dr. Angela Treml, with the Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratory Blood Bank.

Medical experts say blood donations help run the program and encourage people to donate blood if they can this holiday season.

“This would not have happened without the generous efforts and donations of our blood donors here in our community,” said Treml.