With some of the new cooler bags used in Bridgeport Hospital’s prehospital blood transfusion programs are (l-r): Jessica Carde, EMS quality assurance specialist, and Ryan Nuzzo, EMS coordinator, Bridgeport Hospital; Leigh Goodman, regional EMS manager, Bridgeport and Greenwich hospitals; Steven Kennedy, Trumbull EMS; Anthony Mauro, AMR; Tim Yurksaitis, Stratford EMS; and Colin Bassett and Andrew Weber, Trumbull EMS.
Ten months after launching its prehospital blood transfusion program, Bridgeport Hospital continues to invest in it by providing upgraded coolers for emergency medical services (EMS) agencies to store the blood paramedics use for in-ambulance transfusions. The $40,000 investment was made thanks to the Bridgeport Hospital Foundation.
“Maintaining the safety and integrity of every unit of blood has always been our top priority,” said Edward Snyder, MD, director of Bridgeport Hospital’s Blood Bank and professor of Laboratory Medicine, Yale School of Medicine. “With advances in technology, we’ve upgraded how we store and monitor blood products, strengthening the chain of custody with more precise, real-time temperature tracking for every unit. The updated coolers enhance our ability to see exactly where blood is and confirm that it meets strict clinical standards at all times, even in challenging field conditions.”
The prehospital transfusion program is a collaboration between Bridgeport Hospital and its EMS partners from Bridgeport AMR, Trumbull EMS and Stratford EMS. Bridgeport Hospital’s Blood Bank provides EMS teams with one unit of group O-positive red blood cells, as available. Since the program began, a dozen blood transfusions have been administered in the field.
“This is one of the most powerful tools we have in emergency medicine today,” said Doug Latham, MD, Bridgeport Hospital EMS medical director. “Patients who might not have survived the trip to the hospital are now getting the critical intervention they need right at the scene. The impact has been immediate and undeniable, and it’s transforming outcomes for our most severely injured patients.”
