Saluting Our Region's Heroic First Responders

Published by Kirby Winn on Friday, October 27, 2023 in Blog

ImpactLife salutes the courage and skill of firefighters, police, emergency medical technicians (EMT), paramedics, and 911 operators working across our service region. National First Responders Day (October 28) was established in 2017 to honor the heroic men and women who take immediate action when disaster strikes. Whether as career professionals or as volunteers, these individuals step in to provide aid when lives are on the line.

Seeing a successful outcome in emergency response often depends on volunteer blood donors who stepped forward in the days before a crisis. That's because it's the blood donations that are already tested, processed, and already "on the shelves" that can be transfused to patients in the immediate aftermath of an emergency. 

Police, firefighters, paramedics, and EMTs are first to arrive on scene, but their lifesaving work is supported by volunteer donors who make sure blood components are available for emergency use. In fact, some of our donations are even onboard both ground and helicopter ambulance services operating within our region. Will Green, a Flight Nurse with OSF Life Flight, describes how having blood available on the scene and in the air can make a difference for trauma patients.

Pre-hospital transfusion is a growing area of transfusion medicine, and we continue to work with EMS partners across our service region to develop and expand this program. Learn more about pre-hospital transfusion in this video featuring our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Daniela Hermelin, and Cole County EMS in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Type O and AB donors: learn about our Rapid Response Team