How whole blood donations are saving more lives than ever in South Florida
FORT LAUDERDALE — Paramedics with Broward Sheriff's Office Fire Rescue said they are saving more lives than ever.
"I can say I've been doing this for almost 20 years and this is the most impactful thing I've seen in my career by far," said Lieutenant Steve Krivjanick.
Krivjanick is talking about the use of whole blood in trauma scenes.
"You know these patients in the past we just typically would try to control the bleeding and get them to the trauma center as fast as we could. And unfortunately a lot of times they wouldn't make it," he said.
In 2019, BSOFR started delivering whole blood to critical patients at bad wrecks, shootings and any major trauma events where a patient was on the verge of death.
"These are patients that wouldn't make the parking lot of the ER five years ago. Now they're making it to the hospital," Krivjanick said.
Whole blood is what is donated: unseparated platelets, packed red blood cells and plasma.
"This is the most important thing you can do in trauma," Krivjanick said. "For years and years and years we would just put saline into these patients because it's all we had and you know that wasn't effective. It doesn't carry red blood cells to oxygenate the brain, it doesn't have any of the clotting factors to stop the bleeding."
The idea to bring whole blood right to patients in life-or-death situations in Broward County is the brainchild of Dr. James Roach, the Medical Director for BSO. He heard of the idea in San Antonio, the country's first department to do it and he was determined to make Broward County the second.
"I asked the question, 'Why can't we do this? Is anybody doing this?'" Roach said. "This would actually give time."
With the help of BSO Sheriff Gregory Tony and fire rescue staff, they were able to make it happen. Personal tragedy is the reason Roach pushed for more to be done for critical patients.
"Every time it gets me," Roach said when talking about his niece Taylor Lee.
"It's like no matter how many times I talk about it it does get me emotional just because she was such an amazing young woman," he continued.
Taylor was just 23 when she was killed in a car wreck in Naples in 2018.
"You start to think about how Taylor could've lived potentially," Roach said. "There might have been a way to help her get more time. Could we buy time for her? For any of our loved ones."
The blood is stored in coolers just above freezing temperatures. When paramedics get a call, they can call for whole blood and it can be brought directly to the scene.
"To see someone that you touch that they are ice cold — cold to the touch — they are pale, they're barely able to stay conscious because they are bleeding out so much and you go from that to 'I don't know what you're doing but don't stop thank you,'" Krivjanick said. "What an incredible immediate response."
The system works well but isn't perfect — whole blood costs more than $500 per unit and expires after 20 days.
"This is definitely worth the cost," Roach said. "The return on the investment is definitely there."
They also deliver O+ blood, which is the most common blood type and is compatible with any positive red blood cells. According to the Red Cross, more than 80% of the population has a positive blood type and can receive O+ blood.
However, there is a risk if someone has RH-negative blood and has a transfusion. They can become sensitized but it is rare and paramedics said they haven't heard of this happening so far in the five years they've been administering whole blood. They said the bottom line is they are saving more lives and it makes it all worth it.
"It's emotional," Krivjanick said. "As first responders and fire rescue, we don't get a lot of opportunity to have that closed circle where you know where you see them in their worst hour and then being able to see them at their best hour."
BSOFR is trying to expand this life-saving technique within the county. Both Krivjanick and Roach said they believe this advancement will one day be standard practice across the country.