Loveland Reporter-Herald | Prehospital blood transfusions have improved patient outcomes over the last year in Northern Colorado, staff say
A year ago, UCHealth and Thompson Valley EMS launched a program that allows patients to receive whole blood transfusions before they even step foot into a hospital. “We’ve had some patients go from numbers suggesting they’re not going to make it to the hospital, to making it to the hospital, to talking with us, and bordering normal vital signs because of this program,” said UCHealth EMS Medical Director Tyler Vaughn, who is also an emergency room doctor. Before the program launched in December 2024, Larimer and Weld County paramedics could only provide patients with IV fluids before arriving at the hospital, Vaughn said, adding that salt water has no effect on the reduction of bleeding.