Saving lives on the frontline: West Valley City unveils Utah’s first pre-hospital blood program

WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah (ABC4) — West Valley City has unveiled Utah’s first pre-hospital blood program, an initiative to save lives.

David Morris, a trauma surgeon at Intermountain Medical Center, shared that through the program, Intermountain Health provides a unit of blood to West Valley Fire Department to keep on hand for delivery to the site of injury for patients experiencing significant bleeding.

Morris says that by the time the patient reaches the emergency department, they are not in as severe a state of shock or blood loss thanks to the pre-hospital blood transfusion. 

“We anticipate this will result in fewer blood product transfusions in our hospital because [the patient] won’t arrive in such dire state,” said Morris. “Hopefully it’ll provide a bigger window of opportunity for us to save a life.”

Every minute counts for patients with massive bleeding. Intermountain shared that every minute of delay in accessing blood increases mortality odds by 2%.

Additionally, Intermountain shared that trauma ranks as the fourth-leading cause of death in the United States. Uncontrolled bleeding is responsible for more than 30% of trauma-related fatalities. 

Morris said that the program relies on individual blood donations. He asks that anyone who is able donate their blood to help keep the program running.