Kamloops-based air ambulance to carry blood from Royal Inland Hospital for emergency transfusions

KAMLOOPS — Officials at Royal Inland Hospital (RIH) and B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) have signed a blood pact.

In a news release, BCEHS says its partnership with RIH will allow the service’s ambulance helicopter stationed in Kamloops to keep blood products from the hospital on hand at all times.

Blood prepared by RIH Transfusion Medical Services is couriered to the air ambulance station and stored in a special fridge. The station is resupplied twice a week and unused blood is returned to the hospital to prevent waste.

Previously, pre-hospital blood was only available for paramedics dispatched from Vancouver International Airport and the helicopter base at Parksville on Vancouver Island.

“It is going to be a game changer for the people we serve,” said Brian Reichert, critical care paramedic and acting chief of Station 370, in the release. “We cover a large area with a lot of boat traffic, ATVs, motorcycles, and other vehicles on our highways. For us to have a blood product for someone who has suffered an incident, will buy us the time we need to get them to hospital and into surgery to get the help they need.”

Most cases requiring blood transfusions involve traumatic injuries. BCEHS says paramedics have already used on-board blood in at least one highway crash response in the Interior this summer.