Care Flight, Renown Health and Vitalant Introduce Blood Program to Enhance Life-Saving Care in Flight
Care Flight, a service of REMSA Health, Renown Health and Vitalant announced the launch of the new Blood Stewardship Program. The program equips Care Flight aircraft with whole blood and blood products––enabling Care Flight clinicians to begin life-saving transfusions while transporting patients. It enhances trauma room-level care for those in need before they reach the hospital.
The program marks a significant advancement in emergency care in Care Flight’s service area across northern Nevada and northeastern California, particularly for patients experiencing life-threatening conditions that can be treated with immediate blood transfusions such as severe bleeding, pregnancy-related complications, shock and internal injuries.
“We’re proud to partner with Renown Health and Vitalant—two organizations that share Care Flight’s commitment to implementing a blood stewardship program,” said Joseph Drago, executive director, Care Flight. “In emergency medical situations, time is critical. Having blood transfusions on board our aircraft will help our clinicians save more lives, especially for patients who face longer transport times from rural communities.”
While some air ambulance programs carry units of blood on board, unused units can expire before they can be transfused, leading to the loss of a precious and in-demand resource. The Care Flight Blood Stewardship Program addresses this challenge by partnering with Renown Health to return eligible, unused blood units back into its supply at Renown Regional Medical Center approximately one week before expiration, ensuring they can still be used to treat patients.
“Ensuring responsible handling and storage of this life-saving resource was essential to the formation of our blood program,” said Drago. “We appreciate the commitment to stewardship that is shared by Vitalant and Renown Health.”
Care Flight paramedics and nurses adhere to storage and safety protocols for whole blood stored at Care Flight’s aircraft bases and brought on board its helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The rigorous protocols ensure that any unused blood can be safely returned for use in patient care at Renown Regional Medical Center.
As the region’s only adult and pediatric Level II Trauma Center, Renown Regional Medical Center serves more than one million people between Sacramento and Salt Lake City,” said Chris Nicholas, Chief Operating Officer of Renown Health and Chief Executive Officer of Renown Regional Medical Center. “Our community and our neighbors depend on us for critical, life-saving care when every second counts — especially for trauma patients flown in from rural communities hundreds of miles away. We’re proud to partner with Care Flight and Vitalant on this Blood Stewardship Program, ensuring every unit is used to help patients in need wherever they are. Together, we look forward to bringing these essential services to those we serve.”
Every two seconds, someone in the U.S. needs blood and nearly 16 million blood units are transfused each year. For trauma patients, time is critical—uncontrolled bleeding remains the leading cause of preventable death, and the first hour of care is often the most critical.
“We’re grateful for this important partnership, which reflects Vitalant’s commitment to ensuring lifesaving blood is available whenever and wherever it’s needed,” says Area Vice President, Mitzy Edgecomb. “By supporting prehospital transfusion programs, this team delivers critical care directly to patients in life-threatening situations before they reach the hospital. Patient care in the field and at the hospital depends on a steady supply of donated blood. Every donation can help save lives—so we encourage everyone who’s eligible to step forward and give.”
Those interested in donating can locate a blood drive or donation center near them and book an appointment at Vitalant.org.
