Mississippi Blood Services (MBS) has launched a new initiative aimed at improving emergency care in rural areas of the state.
The program, called the RESCUE Program, will begin on September 18 in partnership with LifeCare Ambulance Services.
The Rural Emergency Services Care, blood Utilization, and Survival (RESCUE) Program is a collaboration between MBS, local emergency responders, and the broader community. Its goal is to provide lifesaving blood transfusions to communities with limited access to trauma care, where there is a higher risk of serious injury.
“Over the past two decades, rural medicine has evolved significantly. We aim to be among the first rural areas in the Southeast to offer lifesaving blood products on ambulances for critically injured patients before they reach the hospital,” said Dr. Daman Darsey, CEO of Paladin Emergency Services Consulting. “Research from other communities outside Mississippi shows that prehospital blood transfusions for trauma victims increase survival rates and should be an option available here.”
LifeCare Ambulance Service vehicles in Sharkey, Scott, Winston, Leake, Kemper, and Noxubee counties will now carry units of blood as part of this initiative.