Milwaukee County Announces New, Innovative Emergency Medical Services Initiative

MILWAUKEE – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and the Milwaukee County Office of Emergency Management (OEM) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) division announced a new initiative to offer whole blood transfusions in the field for critically injured trauma patients. Maintaining a history of advancing the practice of prehospital care, Milwaukee County’s EMS system will be the first in Wisconsin and one of the first fire-based EMS systems in the nation to offer this new care in the field.

“This initiative is a testament to our commitment to pioneering improvements in emergency care, empowering our first responders, and, most importantly, saving lives,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. “I am grateful to Milwaukee County OEM for bringing this initiative to fruition and providing the resources, training, and logistics for the municipal EMS departments.”

Milwaukee County OEM EMS division, who deliver medical direction in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin and administrative oversight for the 14 fire departments in the county, will provide resources, training, and logistics to support this new program, furthering Milwaukee County EMS’s history of high-quality, practice-defining patient care. The blood is provided thanks to a partnership with Versiti Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratory Blood Bank. This life-saving service is initially being implemented by the Greendale, Milwaukee, North Shore, South Milwaukee, and Wauwatosa Fire Departments, with a goal to engage all 14 municipal fire departments.

For patients experiencing traumatic injuries with severe blood loss, every minute counts. Prior to this initiative, patients would have to wait until arriving at the hospital to receive a blood transfusion, and that extra time could be a matter of life and death. A recent study has shown that patients who receive a blood transfusion within six minutes of EMS contact have a 7% mortality rate, but that rate increases to 32% after 30 minutes.

“This was not a small lift for our EMS departments and first responders, but, as with everything we do, this has been a team effort,” said Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County Chief Health Policy Advisor and EMS Medical Director. “Best practices were evaluated and implemented based on the latest research and evidence, new guidelines and policies were created, paramedic education was developed, collaborations were fostered with the blood bank, and health system partners were engaged. This program will save lives.”

This new initiative has a zero-waste goal. Each ambulance will carry two units of Type O+ whole blood, maintained at a safe temperature. All blood is monitored, and any blood that is not used within the projected lifespan will be returned to the Wisconsin Diagnostic Laboratory Blood Bank to be used in the hospital system before expiration.

Community members interested in getting involved in this initiative can register to donate blood with Versiti Wisconsin at donateblood.versiti.org and save a life today.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.