Orange County Fire Rescue now able to provide blood transfusions on scene

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County Fire Rescue on Thursday rolled out a first-of-its-kind program to be able to give life-saving blood transfusions to patients before they arrive at a hospital.

In partnership with the Orange County medical director, Orlando Health and OneBlood, EMS crews will have an available inventory of whole blood units and the ability to provide blood transfusions to patients at the scene of an incident.

“This will save lives,” Assistant Chief of EMS Scott Egan said. “It’ll make a big difference for anyone (who) suffers a traumatic incident that requires blood.”

The new level of emergency medical service will buy time for trauma patients and drastically increase their chance of survival, according to Orange County Fire Rescue.

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EMS personnel have been trained to administer whole blood transfusions to patients in urgent need of transfusions. According to OCFR, whole blood is often used to treat trauma patients who have sustained significant blood loss and are in dire need of all blood components at one time (red blood cells, platelets and plasma).

Phase one of the program launched Thursday and with its implementation, the community is being called on for type O blood donations.

“People who are donating today, the donations will be processed and tested and on the way to help a patient in two to three days,” said Susan Forbes, OneBlood senior VP of corporate communications and public relation. “When it comes to trauma situations, type O has a very unique power because it can be given to anyone regardless of the recipient’s blood type.”

Moments after the announcement of the program, OCFR posted on X that it had received its first call in which blood was needed.

Details on how to donate can be found at OneBlood.org.

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