Fort Bend County EMS Revolutionizes Pre-Hospital Care with Launch of Whole Blood Program
During EMS Week recognized last week, Fort Bend County EMS took a significant step towards modernizing pre-hospital healthcare with the launch of its whole blood program. Supporting the adage that every second counts in an emergency, the program has been established with a documented life-saving potential for patients actively bleeding due to trauma or medical reasons.
The prehospital whole blood program is an emergency response effort to save lives by providing immediate blood transfusions to patients suffering from severe blood loss, even before they reach a hospital. By partnering with local hospitals, training emergency personnel, and utilizing cold storage for blood products, the program aims to improve survival rates, especially in large-scale emergencies.
Recent research underlines that the sooner an individual receives whole blood, the higher their chances of survival become. Data from the National Institute of Health further reinforces the utility of this innovative approach, signaling a crucial shift in the primary response to critically injured individuals.
Fort Bend County EMS officially initiated the whole blood program on May 17, 2024, and three days later, the team aboard Medic 613 performed the program's first lifesaving intervention for a patient with a critical medical emergency, yielding a positive result for the patient’s condition during transport.
With its team of skilled paramedical personnel, Fort Bend County EMS provides pre-hospital advanced life support to over 860,000 residents. This includes 3 battalion chiefs, 15 mobile intensive care units (MICU), 3 squad units, and a specialized AMBUS (Ambulance bus). Funded by USAI grant, the AMBUS has been strategically designed to cater to multiple patients requiring ambulance care, particularly suited to situations ranging from mass casualty incidents to disaster responses.
The Fort Bend County EMS also runs Special Programs that equip EMS personnel to address distinctive cases. The specialized training includes Bike-Medic, Tactical-Medic, and Tox-Medic responses.
This development marks Fort Bend County EMS as the 10th and the largest EMS agency in Houston to adopt whole blood. Fort Bend County EMS is working alongside numerous EMS agencies, hospitals, the South East Texas Regional Advisory Council, and the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center to widen the availability of whole blood for all EMS agencies within and around the Houston region.
Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.
