Monongalia County EMS: whole-blood program credited with life-saving interventions; county hears early data
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Summary
Presenters told the Monongalia County Commission the prehospital whole-blood program (effective May 1, 2025) administered whole blood to 15 patients in 2025, with providers reporting improved blood pressure and a 64.28% discharge rate; presenters said EMTs can now assist paramedics under updated state protocol, increasing coverage in rural areas.
Forrest Lyon, introducing MONTMS staff, and Dr. Robbie May and Tyler Savage briefed the Monongalia County Commission on the county’s whole-blood prehospital program, which took effect May 1, 2025. Savannah-area EMS officials said the program delivered whole blood to 15 patients across the county in 2025 and credited the practice with multiple life‑saving interventions.
"It's been more successful than we ever could have imagined," Dr. Robbie May said, describing a summer case in which whole blood was given to a mother suffering postpartum hemorrhage in a rural part of the county; both mother and baby were discharged home three days later. Forrest Lyon introduced the presentation and named Dr. May (director of clinical services) and Tyler Savage (quality assurance and improvement specialist) as the program speakers.
Tyler Savage told commissioners the agency became the third EMS agency in West Virginia to carry whole blood and summarized the program's early outcomes: 15 patients received whole blood in prehospital settings; 64.28% of those patients were discharged from the hospital after treatment; roughly 40% of administrations were for trauma and 60% for medical indications including GI bleeds, postoperative complications and postpartum hemorrhage. Savage also gave response-time figures: an average 9.7 minutes from 911 activation to ambulance arrival across the 15 administrations, an average 16 minutes to the arrival of blood products, and 48 minutes from 911 activation to arrival at the emergency department.
"We would begin the transfusion as we're moving towards the hospital," Savage said, explaining that clinicians sometimes continue the transfusion while transferring care to emergency-room staff.
Commissioners asked operational questions about unit availability and coverage. Presenters said one centrally stationed response vehicle carries a unit of whole blood around the clock; on average the agency has seven to 10 ambulances available. Dr. May also noted a recent state protocol change allowing EMTs to assist paramedics when two clinicians are required, a change the presenters said will expand the county's ability to administer whole blood during shortages of paramedics.
Presenters named WVU as a partner for blood supply and noted challenges in finding additional blood banks as more agencies adopt whole-blood capability. The agency said it will host and promote blood drives in the coming months and plans to return with finalized annual financial and volume data in several weeks.
The county commission did not take formal action on the presentation; commissioners praised the program and noted that recent voter support for a levy helps fund EMS operations. Presenters requested no formal vote and said they would provide a full annual report when state-required reporting is complete.
