Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety Emergency Medical Services topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mon EMS to begin carrying whole blood on supervisor vehicle; service goes live May 1
Summary
Monongalia EMS announced it will begin carrying whole blood on a supervisor vehicle starting May 1, supplied by WVU, and trained paramedics across Mon EMS and Morgantown Fire Department will be able to request and use it in the field.
Monongalia EMS told the Monongalia County Commission April 30 that it will begin carrying whole blood on a supervisor vehicle beginning May 1 to provide life‑saving hemorrhage control to patients in the field.
Forrest Lyon of Mon EMS introduced Dr. Robbie Mayes, director of clinical services, who said the program launches the following day and that West Virginia University will supply the unit of whole blood. The service will be available to county patients and to ambulance services coming into the county.
Dr. Mayes said Mon EMS trained not only its paramedics but also paramedics from the Morgantown Fire Department and provided additional familiarization training to EMTs so they will know when to call for the blood even if EMTs cannot administer it. “We will be live with whole blood, for patients in the county as well as ambulance services that are coming into the county who may need that resource,” Dr. Mayes said.
Meeting remarks described whole blood as containing red blood cells, plasma and platelets; Mon EMS said it will carry O positive units as a universal donor choice and that West Virginia University will rotate unused units weekly so they do not expire in the field. Dr. Mayes cited national trauma research and military experience showing benefits for hemorrhaging patients and said the risk of a reaction to O positive whole blood is approximately 1 in 40,000.
The program will store one unit on the supervisor vehicle stationed near Mon Health; dispatch protocols will send that supervisor to meet ambulances when whole blood is indicated. Mon EMS said it is one of fewer than 100 EMS or fire agencies nationally carrying whole blood and the third in the state to do so.
Commissioners and audience members applauded the announcement; no formal county action or funding vote related to the program was recorded in the meeting minutes.
