Trial carrying plasma as well as blood saves lives, says Air Ambulance

The defrosted fresh frozen plasma was available onboard the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) for the first time in May last year.

Following a review of five months’ data, the trial’s early results demonstrate what the region’s trauma experts had hoped for - that carrying plasma as well as blood on the GNAAS aircraft would save even more lives.

The technique will now be adopted on both the charity’s active aircraft.

Dr Rachel Hawes, an experienced GNAAS doctor and consultant at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), said: “We’re delighted to see evidence that using fresh frozen plasma alongside red blood cell transfusions, when stabilising patients with life threatening injuries, has had such a positive impact.

“Across the first five months of the new trial we have seen three unexpected survivors which is fantastic news.

“In fact, we treated 36 patients using the blood on board technique during these five months – this compares to 37 throughout the whole of our first year practising Blood on Board.

“This shows how much this new approach has become routine practice when needed, and means that major trauma patients are alive today because of the rapid transfusions they received at the scene of their accident.”

Plasma provides vital clotting components to help blood clots to form and to stop bleeding. Before the introduction of plasma, patients would be stabilised using blood transfusions by the GNAAS air doctor, and then receive plasma on arrival at a major trauma centre.

However, on arrival in A&E a third of patients with severe bleeding were no longer able to form blood clots normally, leaving them in a condition known as coagulopathy.

Dr Hawes added: “We always hoped the balanced transfusion technique would mean more patients arriving at hospital with their bleeding under control and minimal abnormal clotting. What we didn’t expect to see was that these patients then required fewer transfusions in hospital.”