Prisma ambulances achieve a first in the state

Seneca resident Debi Liveright – and Prisma Health Ambulance Service – made history when Liveright became the first patient in the state to receive a blood transfusion while being transported by ambulance to a hospital. “If it hadn’t been for the paramedics, I would not be here today,” said Liveright, a 59-year-old grandmother of 11. “I’d definitely be taking a dirt nap.” Prisma Health Ambulance Service is the Upstate’s only ambulance service authorized by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to provide blood transfusions while patients are under paramedic care and en route to hospital by ambulance. Prisma Health administered its first unit of blood during ambulance transport on Feb. 18, said Aaron Dix, executive director of Prisma Health’s emergency medical services. Quicker access is especially critical for those patients with internal bleeding where it’s not possible to stop active hemorrhage before surgery, he said. Prisma Health—Upstate has four ambulances that now carry blood – two in Greenville, one in Oconee and one in Easley. Each ambulance carries blood products that are exchanged every 24 hours at each hospital’s blood bank. Each ambulance also now carries specialized warmers that can heat the blood from 38 degrees to the patient-ready 100 degrees in only 24 seconds. The blood products are kept in special medical transport cases that keep the blood chilled until ready to use; these high-tech cases include alarms to alert paramedics if the temperature falls out of the specified safe range. To perform infusions and use the specialized equipment, the paramedics working on the ambulance all underwent detailed additional training. According to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), Colleton County Fire-Rescue is the only other ambulance service in South Carolina to offer blood service. Based on previous patient needs, Prisma Health expects to provide on-board transfusions a minimum of 200 times in the coming year. Prisma Health paramedics have already used it four times since getting state approval earlier in the month. First-patient Liveright hadn’t been feeling well since Saturday, Feb. 15, but had attributed it to low-blood sugar or the joyful stress of a family wedding. Within three days, however, she was vomiting up a black tarry substance and unable to walk. Her husband called 911. Paramedics with Prisma Health were dispatched to her home. The team assessed her and began the transfusion en route to Prisma Health Oconee Memorial Hospital. Because her blood pressure was so critically low, two units were given in the field and another two units at the hospital, she said. Liveright, who was diagnosed with bleeding ulcers at the hospital, said the quick in-the-field intervention saved her life. “I had basically flat-lined. It’s a miracle I’m still here. I guess the Lord still has more work for me to do.” Consent will be obtained from the patient or next of kin prior to any transfusion, Dix said.