CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — At last week’s Clayton County commission meeting, Fire Chief Tim Sweat proposed creating what he called a pre-hospital blood transfusion program.
If approved by commissioners, the program would enable paramedics and emergency responders in Clayton County to administer blood transfusions while on the way to a hospital for trauma care and emergency treatment.
“Rapid blood transfusion can be lifesaving in trauma, hemorrhage and shock cases. Our goal is to improve basic survival in our pre-hospital settings,” Clayton County Fire Chief Tim Sweat said.
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Sweat said his goal for the pre-hospital blood transfusion proposal was to provide more opportunity to save lives. Data from 2022, shared by Sweat, showed that nationally, 911 responded to more than 1.5 million crashes.
Of those, 42,500 were fatal traffic crashes. Sweat pointed out that the data showed 42% of fatalities were with people who were still alive when first responders arrived.
“As we know the golden hour, the first 60 minutes, of our work are critical,” Sweat said.
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In his presentation, Sweat said “uncontrolled bleeding is leading cause of preventable trauma death.” Having the ability to administer blood to patients in the field could “reduce mortality and hemorrhagic shock severity,” saving lives.
That’s why Sweat wants to have Clayton County’s approval to launch a blood transfusion program for paramedics so that patients in emergency care have more of a fighting chance when they are on the way to a hospital for trauma treatment.
Should the program be approved, the county would have two supervisors responsible for blood transfusion operations with paramedics.
One would be based in the north part of the county and one in the south.
Sweat’s presentation said the blood supervisors would be positioned for rapid response across the county.
The county would also have to purchase equipment to maintain the program for operation, such as blood coolers and warmers for storage, temperature monitors, IV infusion sets and would have to fund additional training.
Sweat’s presentation said that the benefit to the community would be increased survival rates, faster stabilization before getting to a hospital, would put the county in position as a leader for advanced pre-hospital care and would support regional and mass casualty readiness.
“This is going to be a game-changer and it will save lives,” Sweat said, should the program be approved.
He said Southern Regional Medical Center had committed to providing the blood at no cost in the first year of the program in Clayton County, if approved.
For the program to move forward, it needs Clayton County Board of Commissioners approval and an agreement between the county and Southern Regional.
The program would also require a fee structure to fund it.
As proposed, the program would have a $650 fee for administering the blood to patients, applied in addition to the Advanced Life Support rate of $1,500 currently charged in Clayton County, or a total of $2,150.
The program also proposes adding a $1,100 Basic Life Support Transport fee, plus a $3,500 critical care fee and a mileage cost of $15 per loaded mile of transportation.
The county commission would have to approve the change of fee structure.
The county commission will discuss the proposal at their Aug. 4 meeting, where they could vote to approve it.
Sweat said he is hoping to get their support for the program by that meeting date.
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