ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County Fire and Rescue’s new blood transfusion team was put to the test by providing critical care to a patient involved in a motorcycle accident at the intersection of State Road 16 and County Road 16A in World Golf Village on Tuesday.
This innovative team, consisting of three captains assigned to Medic 2, is already making an impact, equipped to provide ultrasounds, blood transfusions, and mobile chest tubes for injured patients in the field, covering the entire county.
Captain Jennifer Nist is a senior officer who went through additional training to provide care for patients. Her job is to open the bags of blood and plasma they carry in an SUV. It comes with an incubator to warm the blood and they can monitor the temperature on a phone.
The team was started on March 16, and they’ve already given three transfusions to patients. The team’s most recent transfusion happened Wednesday in World Golf Village when a motorcycle and car collided.
The injured individual was transported by helicopter to a hospital.
While the county has had blood available in helicopters for air transport, this initiative highlights a new approach to delivering critical care directly at the scene of an emergency.
Dr. Kerry Bachista is the medical director for SJCFR. He talked about a few of the things they can do now.
“With the ultrasound, [EMS captains] are going to be able to look into the body and see if they are bleeding internally; they are also able to visualize the heart,” Bachista said. “They are quickly able to see the lungs up and inflated and they are able to look into the abdomen and look for internal bleeding.
County officials believe these new services can significantly improve survival rates when time is critical. It’s a program they would like to expand so there can be more captains like Nist on the road.
