TEHRAN — Helicopter emergency medical service (HEMS) provider in Iran plans to transport and transfuse blood on the scene, Emergency Medical Services director Pir Hossein Kulivand has said.

Since some 8 percent of the deaths in road crashes often result from major internal hemorrhage or severe blood loss it is necessary for helicopter emergency medical services maintain an independent supply of blood for use during transport, Tasnim news agency quoted Kulivand as saying on Friday.

By purchasing new helicopters the number of helicopter emergency medical service providers have reached 40 in the country, he said.

Air ambulance medics arriving at the scene of an emergency in many cases find a patient who has lost a dangerous amount of blood, making every second count between arrival, diagnosis and treatment.

 It is typical for medics to either use a saline solution to replace the volume lost–although this does not replace the oxygen-carrying ability of the shed blood– wait for blood supplies to be transported from local hospitals by police or ground ambulances, or transfer the patient to the nearest hospital.

But they all are a time-consuming methodology, potentially complicated by a lack of blood supplies at hospitals, or any number of possible hindrances, from heavy traffic to impassable terrain. However, this is starting to change.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Kulivand noted that none of the helicopter emergency medical services are equipped with night vision technology, however, adding advanced helicopters with night vision technology to the fleet is high on agenda.

MQ/PA