Mike Z recently asked about how our hospital's blood supply works and I actually had a meeting about this today so I thought I'd share with everyone. We go through a huge amount of blood here since we see a high number of trauma patients with very bad injuries. And recent research has shown that people who receive blood transfusions immediately after their injuries do better than those that don't. At any given time we usually have 130-150 units (or pints) of blood that we can use for transfusions at the hospital. Each unit is only good for 30 days and after that it gets thrown away if it isn't used. We are resupplied by helicopter from another hospital in southern Iraq where the Army's central blood bank is located. As long as the weather is good we can have new stock within an hour.
A couple of weeks ago we had three patients that arrived at the same time, all with very bad injuries. We used all of the blood in the hospital resuscitating these patients. The weather was bad and the choppers couldn't fly to resupply us with the blood we needed. Whenever this happens we initiate a protocol called "Walking Blood Bank." Every soldier in the Army knows their blood type, has it printed on their ID tags, and has it stored in a centralized data bank. When this protocol goes into effect, the unit commander notifies all soldiers with whatever blood type is needed to get to the hospital ASAP. When we did this it was amazing how fast people started showing up. Within 20-30 minutes there were over a hundred people lined up to donate blood. In some cases, our lab techs were literally drawing the donating blood from a soldier and then running it back to the ICU to begin transfusing into the patients. It was an incredible sight to see but hopefully it is something we won't have to do too often.
9 comments:
hey Pete, whats crackalackin? This blog is awesome, I've been reading it everyday and I am truly amazed at what your doing over there. Everyday at work I am thinking about the blog and can't wait to get home to check it to see if there is any new updates. The guy I work with made me email it to him because I talk about it and you so much. I think I have blog-i-tist, can you perscribe something for that? Oh yeah, Delta Force! Whaaaaaatttt? thats crazy!
blog-i-tist? Mike, did you come up with that word or was Sabrina behind that one? :) Just Kidding! Love ya.
Love u too Pete. I also love reading the blog. It really is so interesting to see what is going on where you are. Stay safe. Miss you!
Crazy stuff, thanks for explaining. I think we obviously all have a lot of questions about how things operate over there, it's great that you're comfortable taking blog requests now!! lol :) When I was showing the boys your pics, I realized there were extension cords coming in through the tent tops in Kuwait. Little details like that make me realize you're probably not on the normal grid, and are generating power, where does the water come from, etc? I don't want you to answer all the nitty gritty details (I'm good at Google afterall), but your blog definately gets people thinking. James hit the nail on the head when he said that the best thing about this is that it's unfiltered with no overt agenda. I'd rather know what all our 'boys' and 'girls' go through than half the stuff I get on CNN. Hey, remember when you went with me to health services so I could get my blood drawn? I'm still anxious around needles, and that was when our 'bromance' officially began ;)
Thanks for replying to the boys, I didn't get a chance to read it to them today but will tomorrow. When we went through the pics, Matthew started looking really sad. I said to him 'you know Pete is OK right?', and he replied 'I know, but you kinda told me something Daddy that you probably didn't mean to'. So I asked him to explain, and he said that when I told him you helped fix our soldiers that got hurt, and could remove bullets, stitch wounds, etc that I let him know that people were actually shooting each other. It was a revelation to us, his whole idea of war has been clones shooting droids, people shooting aliens, etc.. He never realized that people fought people, and it gave us a good opportunity to talk about the reality of war and guns as weapons and not toys. Your blog is turning into some kind of 1980 PSA commercial, it brings families together. Where did you learn this??!!! I learned it from watching YOU dad, from watching YOU!! Peace out
Wow dude, that's awesome. True comaraderie. Do you also participate in that? I guess you would if you had to but they'd probably prefer that the only ER lead on site stay alert ;)
I know you're a Blue October fan and I'd highly recommend their new album (entitled "Approaching Normal" and just came out this past Tuesday). It's only been a day and half of listening to it but it's outstanding. Two of the songs have me thinking of you while you're out there: 1) Kangaroo Cry. It's his thoughts on what happened with 9/11 and all of our expeditions in Iraq since then. I haven't quite soaked up all the lyrics yet but it certainly has me thinking of you. The other song is called "Jump rope" and is his message to his newborn daughter that "life is like a jump rope...up, down, up down". Anyway, the parallel is all the lessons learned and perspectives you're gaining out there...that you can soon share with your children. Good stuff.
Anyway...as always, be safe buddy...we continue to be so proud of you.
Hi. My name is Melanie and I work with your mother (I sit right next to her). We are all very proud of what all of you guys are doing over there. Keep yourself safe. Your website is great and I think it helps your mother and I'm sure your wife appreciates being able to know what's going on with you. I have bookmarked your blog to visit each day. Keep up the good work and I pray you come home safely.
Hi Peter, You are all truly wonderful over there, we should all take a lesson. God bless you and every one of your colleagues and patients. We love you, Mom and Dad xoxoxo
Hey Pete!
Its Jeff and Kattia. We want to take a moment to wish you the best. Your blog is awesome and we expect to be regular followers. God Bless!
Mike C - Sorry to hear you got a serious case of blogitis. Think you better visit your doctor and have your man-gina checked out. Love you bro.
Mike Z - You have exceeded the 200 word limit on a comment posting. Please refrain from doing this in the future or you will no longer be able to access this site. Just kiddin bro, would never jeopardize our "Bromance" like that.
Jimmy - thanks for the Blue October update, I'll check it out.
Jeff & Kattia - great to hear from you, hope you and the family are doing well.
WOW - that is really an amazing process - they say that in the states only 5% of people who can donate will do so...but when it is life or death in the Army - you guys are amazing!!! Keep up the good work, Pete!!!
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