Patients with life-threatening bleeding in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, can now receive blood products before they reach the hospital. As of Monday, October 26, East Baton Rouge EMS and the St. George Fire Department are running a joint prehospital transfusion program, making St. George the first fire department in Louisiana to carry blood, according to EMS1.

EMS Director Chris Landry said the parish is now one of only three in the state carrying blood products, joining roughly 3% of agencies nationwide. Twenty EMS paramedics, known as “Blood Medics,” have been training alongside St. George personnel since March, and dispatchers have been trained to recognize calls where blood may be needed. Blood Medics respond with blood-equipped units across the parish, and any crew on scene can request one. Units carry refrigerated O-positive and O-negative red blood cells and plasma supplied by The Blood Center, kept at temperature in Delta Development Team’s APRU 6L portable blood refrigerators and Delta ICE 2L Smart Blood Coolers, with BloodCOMM® monitoring each unit from storage to transfusion.

While the program will support trauma patients, such as those with gunshot wounds or injuries from vehicle crashes, EBR EMS Medical Director Dr. Dan Godbee expects the majority of transfusions to be for other severe bleeding, including ruptured aneurysms and childbirth complications. Godbee noted that survival rates in trauma can triple when blood is given in the field. Landry added that crews will seek patient consent whenever possible and respect a patient’s decision to decline.

For Landry, the change is about giving paramedics a tool that goes beyond IV fluids, which can restore volume but can’t carry oxygen. As he put it, the program “changes what happens in the first critical minutes.” The program is funded through existing EMS tax revenue, and leaders from both agencies used the launch to encourage community blood donation, since every unit carried in the field starts with a donor.

At Delta Development Team, we’re proud to support East Baton Rouge EMS and St. George Fire as they bring blood to patients across the parish. Whether your agency is already carrying blood or just starting to explore a program, our team can help you find the right storage and tracking solution. Contact us to learn more.