EMS teams now carry lifesaving blood

LEXINGTON, Ky. (ABC 36 NEWS NOW) — A new regional partnership is aiming to save more lives by bringing critical care directly to trauma scenes.

Starting June 1, emergency vehicles in Lexington and Fayette, Jessamine, Madison, and Scott counties will begin carrying whole blood, thanks to a new collaboration between the Kentucky Blood Center and local EMS agencies.

“We’re using universal donor blood, so this will be able to be given to anybody. We won’t have to worry about blood typing,” said Dr. Andrew Bernard, Medical Director of UK’s Adult Trauma Center. “What’s great is this will be given to adults and also to injured children.”

This initiative means paramedics will now have the ability to perform blood transfusions before patients ever reach the hospital—something experts say could significantly improve survival rates in critical cases.

The program represents a major step forward in pre-hospital trauma care across Central Kentucky.