Trauma season and the blood supply

ImpactLife provides blood to more than 120 hospitals and emergency medical service (EMS) providers in Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, and to resource sharing partners across the country. Emergency room physicians and EMS specialists anticipate an increase in trauma and injuries that follow a seasonal pattern.

Dr. Doug Soltys, trauma surgeon with SSM Health Saint Mary's Hospital (Madison, Wis.), notes that warmer weather brings an increase in outdoor activities such as mountain biking, riding all-terrain vehicles, rock climbing, and more. Learn how blood transfusions are used to treat injured patients in the ER in our interview with Dr. Soltys, below.

LET'S Join forces

Emergency Medical Services & First Responders

ImpactLife joins hospitals and emergency medical services providers in celebrating May 18-24, 2025 as Emergency Medical Services Week. The national campaign features messaging to honor the men and women who provide emergency medical services and acknowledge the accomplishments of EMTs and paramedics, while building awareness of their important role across the ImpactLife service region.

We're proud to partner with First Responders across our through initiatives like Blood Emergency Readiness Corps, Blue Blood, Battle of the Badges and more. Fill out this form to get started!

Rapid Response Team

While O Negative is universal for red blood cells, type AB is universal for plasma and can be received by any patient. Universal blood products are often used in emergency trauma situations and with infants or women that are pregnant. If your blood type is O negative, O positive, AB negative, AB positive, click here to join the Rapid Response Team.

Toolkits

Download the Emergency Response toolkit and share images to help find new blood donors and new partners. Download the Hospital Partners toolkit and share images to help find new blood donors with our hospital partners.