Major trauma patients across the region will benefit from yet another life-saving medical approach, as the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) today begins to carry defrosted Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP) on board its aircraft.
The charity already carries red blood cells on board, enabling their specially trained medics to give blood transfusions to patients with life-threatening bleeding either on board, or at the roadside.
This revolutionary approach recently celebrated its first anniversary in service when representatives from the organisations involved met patients who are alive today because of the rapid blood transfusions they were given at the scene of their accident.
GNAAS teamed up with Newcastle Hospitals and the blood bike charities in Northumbria and Cumbria and the Henry Surtees Foundation to make that project possible.
Now the team has taken it one step further by carrying plasma, which provides vital clotting components to help blood clots to form and to stop bleeding. GNAAS is one of the very first air ambulance charities in the UK to carry plasma onboard, which when given together with the blood, is thought will offer patients an even better chance of survival.
