More than 60,000 people bleed to death every year in the United States. Many of those deaths occur before the patient reaches a trauma center where blood transfusions can be given.
““I don’t think that people understand that ambulances don’t carry blood,” said Jeffrey Kerby, who is chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma and directs trauma and acute care surgery at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine. “They just assume they have it.””
I don’t know what’s involved in blood typing, but I can’t imagine an ambulance is equipped to do that so they’d need to stock all O negative, and that’s going to reduce the overall supply as it’s driving around in ambulances.
Also, it’s perishable, so I’d think hauling around a bunch of O- would increase waste of a very valuable resource.
““I don’t think that people understand that ambulances don’t carry blood,” said Jeffrey Kerby, who is chair of the ACS Committee on Trauma and directs trauma and acute care surgery at the University of Alabama-Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine. “They just assume they have it.””
I don’t know what’s involved in blood typing, but I can’t imagine an ambulance is equipped to do that so they’d need to stock all O negative, and that’s going to reduce the overall supply as it’s driving around in ambulances.
Also, it’s perishable, so I’d think hauling around a bunch of O- would increase waste of a very valuable resource.