Cabell County EMS works with St. Mary’s Medical Center to launch blood administration program

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — A new pilot program in Cabell County is allowing injured patients involved in car accidents, shootings, stabbings or other traumatic situations to receive blood on scene.

Julia Zeto, critical care transport director for Cabell County Emergency Medical Services (EMS), said the program will help save more lives by getting blood to patients within minutes instead of waiting to be transported to the hospital.

“Regardless of how far away they are, the earlier the intervention, the better off it’s going to be,” Zeto told MetroNews. “It increases survivability, and it’s actually has been shown to decrease total hospital length of stays.”

Cabell County EMS works with St. Mary’s Medical Center to receive the blood.

The program is the first of its kind to launch in West Virginia with Cabell County EMS being one of 116 agencies in the U.S. to have prehospital blood administration capabilities.

First responders are able to provide whole blood transfusions, which Zeto said is usually very difficult to obtain in the trauma world.

“We have whole blood as opposed to packed red blood cells and that’s a really big deal. Whole blood is really hard to get. It’s like liquid gold and is in very short supply,” she said.

Studies show that prehospital blood administration has significantly improved outcomes for patients with hemorrhagic shock. Zeto said they’re saving lives.

“The leading cause of death in the United States for people under 46 is hemorrhage related to trauma and by having that pre-hospital intervention we are actually able to drastically decrease the chance of mortality,” she said.

Zeto said they hope to be a model for other counties in West Virginia when it comes to saving more lives through on-site blood administration for patients who need it.

A press event was held Monday in Huntington to discuss the program.