H.11 Improved Prehospital Blood Warming

Improved Blood Warming Device

The ability to rapidly infuse warm blood products is critical to trauma patients. They need both the rapid administration of blood products and the prevention of hypothermia. Plasma and Red Blood Cells are often frozen or cooled for transport, and even if all blood products are at room temperature (20 – 25 C), this is still significantly below the ideal infusion temperature of 36 C. Current systems allow for the warming of blood in a compact form or the rapid infusion of warm blood in a very large form factor. However, no compact solution allows for the rapid administration of warm blood. This can impact prehospital resuscitation when a team, especially outside of a hospital setting, must choose rapid or warm blood administration.

Current technology in this field includes the Belmont, the Level One, and the Buddy Light. The first two are large solutions that are not practical in limited space environments like an ambulance or helicopter, and beyond that still require priming and setup that is time intensive even in the emergency room setting. Outside of the hospital, the Buddy Light is often used, but the method for warming significantly slows administration, and the warming cartridge can rupture leading to leakage of blood products. The maximum flow rate of the Buddy Light is 80 cc/min for crystalloid and 50 cc/min for blood products, which is half the maximum flow rate of many interosseus or 16 gauge peripheral IVs, of which multiple may be placed in a trauma patient. 

A successful project would allow prehospital providers to prevent hypothermia while giving blood.