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Practical Guidance for Prehospital Transfusion by Emergency Medical Services
| The rapid expansion of prehospital transfusion programs to 46 U.S. states reflects a major shift in emergency care—bringing advanced trauma resuscitation to patients before they reach the hospital. This month, PLUS highlights two key articles: a historical review of EMS evolution and a detailed Clinical Practice Guideline for implementing blood transfusion in the field. |
Articles
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What Are CAR-T Cells and What Is the American Red Cross Doing About Them?
T-cells play a pivotal role in the immune system’s response to cancer. Unlike B-cells which make antibodies, T-cells act directly in a cell-to-cell fashion. CAR-T stands for chimeric antigen receptor T-cells. The word “chimeric” means having parts from two or more origins. To accomplish this, T-cells are collected from the blood of a patient or
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Cold-Stored Platelets and Room Temperature Platelets
With the introduction of cold-stored platelets (CSP) into practice, transfusion services have encountered challenges in interpreting FDA guidance. The FDA indicates that CSP may be used to treat active bleeding when conventional platelets—room temperature platelets (RTP)—are unavailable or impractical to use.1 In addition, the FDA requires transfusion services to develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) that
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How important is leukoreduction of low titer group O whole blood?
The use of low titer group O whole blood (LTOWB) has increased in recent years, predominantly in the setting of adult trauma resuscitation. While randomized control trials have not yet shown LTOWB to be superior to standard component therapy, several clinical trials designed to test this hypothesis are ongoing. Most LTOWB units undergo prestorage leukoreduction
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Does Pathogen Reduction Impair Platelet Function In Actively Bleeding Patients?
The initial FDA approval for pathogen-reduced (PR) platelets was supported by data from the SPRINT trial1,2 showing PR platelets to be noninferior to control platelets with respect to the incidence of bleeding after transfusion to thrombocytopenic patients; only about 16% of whom had clinically significant bleeding on study entry. Are PR platelets as effective as
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Published by the American Red Cross, Plus Online features leading research and trending topics related to transfusion medicine. By promoting innovation within the field and leveraging the insight from our authors and thought leaders, we provide a resource that helps you continue your education and support best patient care.