Life-Saving Blood is Critical to Treating Trauma Patients – Consider Donating Today

One of the most critical resources needed at a trauma center is a safe and reliable blood supply.

As a trauma surgeon, I see it all. Day and night. Car crashes, industrial accidents, crime victims, and those who get hurt enjoying Idaho's great outdoors – winter and summer.

As the region’s leading trauma center, Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center has the resources and expertise to manage any trauma patient that enters our doors. One of the most critical supplies needed at a trauma center is a safe and reliable blood supply. But locally and nationally, the American Red Cross warns there is a critical shortage of blood products. And while the need for blood increases, donations have dropped sharply since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Red Cross reports that the need for blood to supply trauma centers rose by 10% in 2021, compared to 2019.

When I treat a patient in the Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center Trauma Center, I don’t want to be in a position where lack of blood means I cannot provide the best care possible. Traumatic injuries that require blood transfusions are unpredictable events. You never know when they will occur. So our trauma center makes sure we are always ready to initiate resuscitation with blood products, aggressively if necessary. We have processes in place that makes blood available in the trauma bay to the most severely injured patients before they arrive at the hospital. Every second counts when treating a trauma patient and having those blood products close at hand for transfusion can make a difference in saving someone’s life.

Blood loss is the number one cause of preventable death in trauma patients within the first 24 hours of injury. Our trauma center in Boise treated 2,395 patients in 2021, a more than 13-percent increase over 2020. Those patients were given over 1,214 blood products, an increase from the previous year. Of those trauma victims, 45 were in hemorrhagic shock and needed a large volume of blood given in rapid fashion, using a Massive Transfusion Protocol. This means that the care team and blood bank work together to keep delivering blood until the source of bleeding can be identified and controlled. The result is a complete replacement of the patient’s entire blood volume. As you can imagine, this places quite a burden on our blood supply.

Simply put: We need blood to save lives, but we cannot do it without your help.

While the demand for blood increases, blood donations decrease. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Red Cross in Idaho and Montana says donations have declined by about 10%. The number of blood drives held at schools and colleges have fallen by more than 60%.

It is the perfect storm. Increased demand and decreased supply.

As a trauma surgeon, I make every effort to stop bleeding quickly and to avoid unnecessary transfusions once the patient stabilizes. However, as our community grows these efforts will not be enough. Blood spoils and cannot be stored for long term use. We need to constantly refresh the supply for trauma, non-emergency surgeries, and other disorders such as hemophilia or certain types of cancers.

I encourage everyone who is healthy and able to donate blood to contact the Red Cross and schedule an appointment today. Blood is one lifesaving tool we simply can’t do without.

Dr. Parker Fillmore, MD is the Trauma Medical Director at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.