When it comes to helicopter air ambulance services, quality patient care is a top priority. The Harlan and Middlesboro Air Evac Lifeteam bases recently made strides in providing ACCESS to its patients. The bases recently partnered with MEDIC Regional Blood Center to start carrying blood and blood products on board its aircraft. Teresa Cox-Mink, senior program director for Air Evac Lifeteam, said red blood cells and liquid plasma are now available to the medical crews for patients who may suffer from severe blood loss and require aggressive fluid resuscitation in the course of their care.

“We use blood and blood products in the care of patients who require the next step in the fluid resuscitation process as we transport them to a higher level of care,” she said. “Liquid plasma is a great asset to have available, as it assists in clotting for patients experiencing severe blood loss as well as being helpful in the management of a certain subset of specific medical conditions. The concurrent use of red cells and plasma is becoming the preferred treatment for patients experiencing severe blood loss due to traumatic injury.”

Cox-Mink said she is grateful to MEDIC Blood Center for partnering with Air Evac in providing access to the blood products, and for sharing their guidance and expertise on the proper storage and management of the products at the Harlan and Middlesboro bases.

“Air Evac Lifeteam made a great investment in order to provide the blood and blood products to our patients,” she said. “This is one more example of Air Evac’s dedication to providing the highest level of care to our patients.”

MEDIC Regional Blood Center has been serving the communities of southeast Kentucky for decades.

“Our new partnership with Air Evac Lifeteam allows us to continue our lifesaving mission by providing blood products to some of the area’s most vulnerable patients,” said Jim Decker, CEO for MEDIC Regional Blood Center.

Air Evac Lifeteam, headquartered in O’Fallon, Missouri, is the largest independently owned and operated air medical service provider in the United States, with more than 135 air medical bases across 15 states. Air Evac is the leading provider of helicopter emergency medical services to communities in need of rapid medical transport to advanced emergency health care.

Flight crews, consisting of a pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic, are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week to respond to the scene of an emergency, or provide transportation between medical facilities. For more information, please visit www.lifeteam.net, or like us on Facebook.