Topic(s): Transfusion Science
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the role of MLTs in the Canadian Armed Forces
- Understand the history of whole blood usage
- Identify how a walking blood bank is employed in the Canadian Armed Forces
- Learn about the lived experience from Op IMPACT in Erbil, Iraq 2016-2017
Session Description
The Canadian Armed Forces are often deployed to austere environments around the world where resupply is difficult. In the event of massive transfusion or massive casualties, blood products may be exhausted quickly with resupply hours away, if ever at all. A Walking Blood Bank (WBB) is the donation of fresh whole blood specifically for a patient from a pre-screened donor and used during these extreme conditions. This lecture will discuss the history of whole blood, current use of low titre O whole blood, ROTEM and experiences in the activation of a WBB during Operation IMPACT in Erbil, Iraq.