SAVING LIVES IN THE AIR
UF Health ShandsCair team performs the program’s first in-flight prehospital blood transfusion
After over a year of preparation, the UF Health ShandsCair team performed its first in-flight prehospital blood transfusion in December.
UF Health’s Don Irving, ShandsCair pilot, guided the flight, in which Staccie Allen, D.N.P., APRN, EMT-P, CFRN, C.C.P., ShandsCair flight nurse, and Jesse Blaire, EMT-P, C.C.P., flight paramedic, were able to give a patient one unit of blood to help stabilize their blood pressure and heart rate before landing.
“You see the benefits of providing blood quickly in tons of military literature, and much of what we do is derived from that,” Allen said. “We realized how important access to blood is before getting to the hospital, and research shows how much of a difference it makes. It makes an incredible impact on patient outcome.”
In early 2018, ShandsCair chief flight nurse Todd Brooks, B.S.N., R.N., EMT-P, began advocating for carrying blood in-flight. This practice had been discussed within the program before, but it required the involvement of and assistance from multiple teams within UF Health before implementation. This included obtaining a grant for a blood refrigerator through the UF Health Shands Hospital Auxiliary and establishing new protocols with the UF Health Shands Clinical Laboratories and Operations.
Every nurse, paramedic, clinical educator, medical director, program director and manager of both ShandsCair and the Blood Bank was integral in this process. They established measures to ensure clinicians follow protocol and a quality assurance program, and assess how safely, effectively and efficiently things run.
Finally, everything fell into place.
“It was a strong step forward for UF Health to allow and support the initiative to carry blood in-flight,” Brooks said.
UF Health is at the forefront of the movement locally as the practice becomes more common on medical helicopters around the country. ShandsCair’s new service will benefit many types of patients, including those with low blood pressure and a high heart rate and/or suspicion of internal or external bleeding. Carrying blood gives the team a chance to provide a new level of care and buy patients more time before arriving at the hospital.
The ShandsCair 1 team now boards every flight with blood, plasma and medication to slow bleeding. The materials are stowed in a compact cooler kept in the blood refrigerator to monitor their temperatures and are easy to grab on the go.
Brooks added, “We want to have all five ShandsCair helicopters carrying blood and we hope to treat medical patients in addition to trauma patients.”
