Mon County EMS to carry whole blood on supervisor vehicle starting May 1 to treat hemorrhage patients

Monty EMS told the Monongalia County Commission on April 30 that it will begin carrying a unit of whole blood on a supervisor vehicle starting May 1, making whole-blood transfusion available in the field to patients who are bleeding severely.

Forest Wyand of Monty EMS and Dr. Robbie Mays, director of clinical services, described the program during the commission’s reports. Dr. Mays said the service will be live with whole blood “as of tomorrow” and that West Virginia University (WVU) will supply the unit of blood that the service will recirculate weekly with the hospital if it is unused.

Dr. Mays said Mon County will be among fewer than 100 fire or EMS agencies in the country with whole blood, the third in the state and the most populous in the state to offer it. She said the agency trained paramedics from both Monty EMS and Morgantown Fire Department and provided awareness training to EMTs so they know when to call for the blood supervisor.

Under the plan, the blood unit will be staged on the service’s supervisor (captain’s) vehicle, dispatched to meet an ambulance when clinicians identify a patient likely to need blood, and recirculated weekly with WVU so unused units can be returned to hospital use before expiry. Dr. Mays described whole blood as containing red blood cells, plasma and platelets and said the program uses O positive units as a universal-donor strategy. She said reactions are rare and cited data indicating a low rate of transfusion reactions in other EMS systems.

The announcement drew no formal action from the commission; commissioners received the update during department reports.