Ornge paramedics in Timmins included in Blood on Board program

Ornge paramedics in Timmins have a new life-saving tool aboard their aircraft: the ‘blood on board’ program officially launched Wednesday.

The Blood on Board program, a collaborative project involving Ontario’s Ornge air ambulance paramedics and the Timmins and District Hospital, is now available in the city.

Ornge paramedics will now take blood with them on their flights, allowing them to give faster transfusions to patients.

“There’s a lot of regulatory requirements associated with being able to transport blood within our environment and to be able to keep it at a base,” said Dr. Michael Peddle, associate medical officer with Ornge.

“So it took being able to work with the hospital and the transfusion lab to be able to put together all of the regulatory requirements and the framework to have blood sitting at the base and available for our crews.”

Joanne Skinner is an Ornge critical paramedic with 20 years of experience. Skinner said there are some hospitals in northeastern Ontario with limited amounts of packed red blood cells. Having blood on board will change how care is provided to patients.

‘The patient needs it’

“I’m definitely excited,” said Skinner.

“There’s definitely like calls in my past where I’ve talked with the sending facilities where they’re reluctant to give up all their blood supply, but the patient needs it. So there’s this internal kind of part of you that just wants to be able to provide better patient care.”

The Blood on Board program is available in other parts of the province, such as Thunder Bay, London and Toronto. It took about a year to establish it in Timmins.

“O-Negative is the universal donor, so that’s what we’ll be providing for orange for transfusions,” said Ashley Goulet, senior medical laboratory technologist for the blood bank at Timmins and District Hospital.

“O-negative, Kell negative -- the Kell negative is important for females of childbearing age, so that will also be provided to them.”

Peddle said patients who receive a blood transfusion when they need it have a greater chance of survival.

“There’s lots of evidence to show that earlier transfusion does impact the mortality of patients that have hemorrhage, be it from trauma or medical causes,” she said.

Ornge paramedics will always have blood with them. One cooler will be stored on base and the other will be carried on a flight, ready at the right temperature when required.

Peddle said plans are underway to expand the Blood on Board program to other areas of the province, including Sudbury.