Pre-Hospital Blood Transfusions Expand Emergency Care in Lancaster County
InFocus • Fall 2025 Issue • November 30, 2025
Lancaster General Health’s Blood Bank Laboratory, in collaboration with EMS Medical Director Dr. Brendan Mulcahy, has implemented a process to provide blood for pre-hospital transfusions. Dr. Mulcahy initiated a Physician Response Unit to ensure that a licensed physician is present at any community incident requiring emergency medical assistance. This unit is equipped with a fully stocked vehicle containing various advanced lifesaving equipment and medications. A trained member of the Physician Response Team will now also travel with Low Titer Type O Positive Whole Blood (LTOWB) to be administered to critical patients in need of a blood transfusion before they are transported to the nearest trauma center. This program and others like it have shown that starting blood transfusions before arrival at the hospital can decrease patient mortality.1
The LGH Blood Donor Center collects whole blood from donors whose blood qualifies as low titer. The LTOWB is stored in a monitored refrigerator in the LGH trauma bay for trauma patients who may need transfusions upon arrival. For pre-hospital transfusions, the Blood Bank has acquired specialized medical transport bags (coolers) that maintain the required temperature range for blood products and are designed to withstand field conditions without compromising the integrity of the contents.2
In addition to the LGH Emergency Response Team, PennMed1, the Blood Bank supplies O positive packed red blood cells and Type A plasma to the local Advanced Life Support unit operated by the New Holland Emergency Medical Service (NHEMS), which is also under Dr. Brendan Mulcahy's direction.
The Blood Bank works closely with Dr. Mulcahy and NHEMS to ensure expedited care for patients in Lancaster County and the surrounding areas. Since the program's inception in June 2023 through September 2025, 27 patients have received blood products in the field.
- Authored by Judy Gue and Anne Willis, LGH Blood Bank
1 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Megan Guza. How a pilot program that would allow Pittsburgh medics to carry blood could improve trauma victim survival rates. December 12, 2022.
2 PELI BioThermal™. Crēdo™ ProMed Product Sheet. ©2022.
