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West Valley launches pilot to carry whole blood on ambulances, staff say
Summary
West Valley Fire/EMS presented a plan to carry low‑titer O‑positive whole blood on a refrigerated, AABB‑compliant cooler supplied under agreement with Intermountain Healthcare. Staff said the city would initially carry one unit citywide, train supervisors to oversee transfusions in the field, and rotate unused blood with the hospital on a seven‑day schedule.
West Valley City officials on Oct. 14 told the City Council they are seeking to pilot prehospital whole‑blood transfusions to reduce time to blood for trauma patients. Battalion Chief Sanden Howard and Brandon Kissel of the medical division told the council the program would make West Valley among the first agencies in Utah to carry whole blood on a refrigerated, AABB‑compliant cooler provided under agreement with Intermountain Healthcare.
Howard and Kissel said trauma patients can bleed to death within minutes, and current practice — transporting patients to a hospital before transfusion — can take 45 minutes or more in countywide averages. To shorten that time, the city intends to carry low‑titer O‑positive whole blood, which staff described as broadly compatible and used in other U.S. agencies. Under the proposed arrangement, Intermountain would supply and rotate blood; the city would maintain temperature logs and a refrigerated cooler that alarms if temperature excursions occur.
Kissel said the first phase would carry one unit citywide rather than one per station, with battalion chiefs or supervisors carrying the cooler to major trauma scenes so crews can transfuse patients while transporting them to surgery. He acknowledged known risks — including Rh incompatibility concerns for certain patients of childbearing potential — and said established transfusion lab follow‑up would be available if sensitization occurred.
Council members pressed staff on logistics: why low‑titer O‑positive was selected, how many units would be carried (initially one), cooler security and temperature monitoring, and plans to expand units if the pilot succeeds. Staff said the cooler in testing can remain powered/unplugged for several days, provides remote temperature monitoring, and Intermountain’s transfusion lab will have access to cooling logs to confirm compliance.
The presenters described cost tradeoffs and logistics: a single bag of blood is substantially more expensive than crystalloid fluids, but staff argued the clinical benefit for major hemorrhage justifies the pilot. They asked the council to approve the agreement framework with Intermountain and to allow staff to finalize the contract and training plan.
