In a partnership with Conway Medical Center and the American Red Cross of South Carolina, Horry County Fire Rescue medical crews can now provide blood on traumatic medical calls while providing pre-hospital care.
HCFR’s safety and medical officers will be carrying new blood coolers in their vehicles—stored at fire rescue stations across Horry County—to be used for potentially life-saving incidents, including crashes and other medical emergencies.
“This is a game-changer for Horry County Fire Rescue, but also South Carolina as a whole, to have a county EMS provider—especially one that’s our size with such a high daily call volume—with these capabilities,” said HCFR Chief Tanner. “Our medical staff has been working on this for a while, and we’re happy to see this expansion of services provided.”
Every shift, two safety and medical officers will be carrying these coolers and bags of carefully-controlled blood across Horry County, ready for potential traumatic injury calls, where it might mean the difference between life and death.
Capt. Tim Smith in HCFR’s Medical Training Division recently completed training with those who will transport and administer the blood, a project he’s helped to advance over the course of the last few years.
“We’re always looking for new ways to improve and grow the role of EMS by keeping up with most current research, and with the support of our medical director, leadership here at HCFR and in Horry County Government, we’re now capable of saving lives in a new way,” Capt. Smith said. “It’s exciting to be able to make a difference like this.”
Every year, HCFR runs dozens of calls where providing blood before the patient reaches an area emergency department would be advantageous, potentially saving more lives.
Conway Medical Center in conjunction with the American Red Cross of South Carolina will be helping to source the blood for HCFR and ensure none is wasted. After receiving the blood, HCFR crews will store it in coolers at stations across Horry County, with medical and safety officers transporting it around with them as they traverse HCFR's coverage area. These officers have been trained to make sure the blood stays at a constant, low temperature to ensure it can be administered effectively.
“Location and training has been everything with this rollout,” said Assistant Chief Ben Lawson, who heads HCFR’s EMS operations. “You can never predict where the next critical call will drop in Horry County, so Capt. Smith has been working hard to make sure the right people are properly trained all across our coverage area, to get there and administer blood as quickly as possible.”
The advances continue for HCFR, which has put new medications on ambulances, ventilators, IV pumps and more, with eyes on several other new avenues for service expansion in the near future.
“The future for EMS providers at HCFR is bright,” Assistant Chief Lawson said. “We couldn’t do it without the trust of the public we serve, and our leaders who support us in being able to respond to the growing needs of the public.”
(Pictured, left to right: Capt. Smith and Assistant Chief Lawson with a delivery of the new blood.)